Oracle
by RushtonLane
Summary: The team gets a new mission to look into a mysterious compound in Chad, but S.H.I.E.L.D. dictates that they have help with this one. The help comes with an unexpected surprise for Ward. As the team investigates, they get more questions then answers and one of them doesn't get through it unscathed. Not everything is as it seems. Mid season one some vague spoilers.
1. Chapter 1

Phil had to keep repeating, "Trust the system," to himself as he waited for everyone to gather in the bullpen. Of course, trusting the system didn't necessarily mean you had to follow instructions blindly. His two senior agents had the clearance for intel on this mission but Fury had been explicit, "None of your crew is to know the identity of your passenger until said passenger sets foot on the plane."

He could picture their reactions. Skye would be her terrier with a bone self, tenaciously curious, rattling off nervous questions like a Gatling gun. Especially when no one answers her and they wouldn't, at least not right away. Fitz/Simmons would stand in awe for a few moments and then start whispering to each other all the facts and rumors they knew about their new guest. May would be stoic on the outside, but Phil knew for a fact the two had a connection ever since Bahrain. Ward, well Ward would be interesting. He'd go one of two ways, either he'd not acknowledge the person or he'd walked away and then confront Phil in private. Both of these reactions depended on their guest arriving solo. If their guest brought along another body, then all bets were off. Phil couldn't help but wonder if he should've stayed in Tahiti (that was something to explore at a later time).

Phil watched as his team assembled. Fitz/Simmons approached the command center, still talking about their latest project in the lab. Ward and Skye were both sweaty and out of breath. Their training session must've been taxing today. May had her attention focused on her tablet, probably trying to find a way to increase the efficiency of the bus. All eyes focused on Coulson at the same time as if they felt his tension. They were really coming together, sort of.

Per usual, Ward spoke first, "We have a new mission, Sir?"

"Yes. We've been tapped for an R&R but we have to make a stop first. We're going to need some help with this one."

"So a usual assignment then," Ward pointed out.

"What's an R&R and who's the help?" Skye asked.

"Research and Recovery," the rest of the team answered in unison.

"Wow, in stereo, even," Skye snarked. "So what about the person?"

Phil shook his head. "We"ll find out who our help is when we land . We're to redirect our flight in order to meet up with the heli-carrier for pick up."

May nodded then punched in some commands into her tablet. "Coordinates are locked in. Do we know the location of the R&R?"

Phil looked at her directly. "We'll be informed after our passenger arrives."

Skye could barely contain herself, "Seems like there's a lot of unknowns here."

Ward answered his underling before Coulson could, "Security requires secrets, Skye."

Skye rolled her eyes, "Yeah, remember the last time we were all kept in the dark. That went so well."

"We'll have more help this time," Coulson assured her.

Simmons couldn't contain her excitement at the mention of the flying city. This would be her first visit to the heli-carrier and her excitement couldn't be contained . "Sir, will we have any time on the carrier? There's a couple of things I'd liked to do."

"And I could procure a few things for the lab as well," Fitz jumped in.

"Not this time. It's a straight stop, resupply/pick up and departure. Time is of the essence," Coulson reluctantly replied. He felt a twinge of regret as he caught the twin looks of disappointment. It was going to be a long day.

"ETA to the carrier, four hours," May interjected.

"I'll let them know," Phil acknowledge the decree.

Skye trailed behind the departing scientists, throwing in small comments to their conversation of how exciting this was, the mystery of it all. Ward and May continued to stand by the table.

"Sir, is there something you didn't want to share with the whole team?" Ward asked.

Coulson's deep breath belied his words, "No, that's everything for now."

"Okay, then. I'll just go prepare for everything then," Ward stated. May followed him out.

Coulson headed to his office to transmit their ETA. He couldn't help thinking that sometimes protocol sucked. He should at least been able to give a heads up.

Three hours and forty-six minutes later, May calculated the settings for a vertical landing in the middle of the Indian Ocean. At least this time the heli-carrier was masquerading as an ocean going vehicle and not an airplane. It was a bitch to land on the massive ship when it's in the air. She spared Ward a quick glance when he slid into the co-pilot seat. He knew better than to interrupt her concentration with idle talk. He did take a second to admire the way she gently put the bus down in the middle of the runway. There was barely enough room for the giant plane and May's piloting skills were impressive.

"Am I the only one who's uncomfortable about this assignment?" Ward muttered.

"No," May answered.

The flight deck crew surrounded the plane the minute the engines powered down. Though they didn't know it, they were both thinking the crew looked like little ants attacking a sandwich that had been left on the ground after a picnic. Coulson instructed everyone to stay in the interior of the plane, only reporting to the hangar bay thirty minutes after they landed. Both agents glanced at their watches, perfectly in-sync.

Restless, Skye paced the main living area, peeking out the windows every couple of minutes, trying to get eyes on their mystery guest. Fitz/Simmons reigned themselves in by puttering with projects they'd brought up from the lab.

"I can't see anything," Skye sighed.

"Oh Skye, I'm sure you can see the deck, the bridge and the crew," Jemma commented causing Skye to shoot her an exasperated look as she flopped down into a wing chair, "This sucks."

Well acquainted with Skye's dramatics, the two ignored her.

Ward walked through the bullpen, heading towards his bunk. When Skye attempted to impede his progress he growled, "Not now, Skye."

The three team members shot each other questioning looks but refrained from commenting.

Grant pulled out his personal laptop, going immediately to his photos folder. He flipped through several pictures before clicking on his Skype link. There was only one id listed. He waited several minutes, but received no reply. Grunting in frustration, he slapped the cover closed and punched his pillow. It'd been several days since he'd been able to make contact and he was worried. He thought about asking Coulson for help before he realized it was time to greet their visitor. He sighed at the delay.

Like a litter of kittens, the team gathered, on time, at the edge of the loading bay, trying unsuccessfully to hid their curiosity. Like the old adage, Coulson wondered if this just might metaphorically kill one of them.

The bay door opened to a golf cart full of people and luggage. The luggage quickly found its way onto the floor of the plane while the people seemed to linger. The team eagerly waited for one of group before them to give some sign of being their passenger, to set him or herself apart from the group. As the group moved about, one person finally separated from the others, a collective gasp came from the team with the exceptions of Coulson. Fitz/Simmons' tones were excitement, Skye's was astonishment, May's disbelief and Ward's hard to pin point. The woman they were staring at was an exceptional beauty. Skye was just about to rib Ward on his reaction when a child-like squeal pierced the air. The woman had turned around to help a little girl out of the car and said child was wiggling to be let go.

"Daddy, Daddy! Is this the surprise? I love this surprise!" the raven haired little beauty shrieked as she ran straight towards Ward. With obvious practiced ease, he caught her and tossed her into the air before settling her on his hip. Her small arms wrapped quickly around his neck and her head tucked into his shoulder.

All the S.H.I.E.L.D agents within hearing distance turned towards the dark haired man holding the child in his arms. It was a toss up as to who was the most surprised. The woman followed the girl up the ramp at a more sedate pace. She locked eyes with Ward as she approached the pair, sparing a brief glance to May, standing next to him, before looking at Ward again.

"I approve, but be careful" she said for Grant's ears only. Louder, she gave a directive, "Let's get this bus on the road. We're burning daylight."

Coulson and May immediately turned to do as told. Ward followed the woman into the bowels of the plane, keeping up a running chatter with his little girl. When Fitz/Simmons started towards their lab, Skye tried to follow her S.O. but Fitz firm hold on her arm stopped her. To her dismay, she watched Ward disappear up the stairs and barely waited until the lab doors closed before she pounced on her teammates.

"Woah! Ward has a kid? Did you two know this? How many other secrets is the guy keeping? Who's the mother? Is that woman the mother? Who is she anyway? I thought we were only picking up one passenger. Come on guys, you gotta give me something here."

Use to the agent-in-training's prattle, the two scientists waited until she wound down before even attempting to answer.

Jemma tried first, randomly picking a question to answer. "I'm sure Agent Ward has many secrets, as do the rest of us."

Skye shot her a bewildered look. "At of all the questions I just asked, that's the one you chose to answer first."

Jemma smiled apologetically, "It seemed to be the easiest one."

Fitz, with a slightly pained look on his face, kept his head down and pretended to have great interest in his computer screen letting Jemma handle most of these questions.

Skye undeterred, directed her attention to him. "Hey, help me out here, Fitz."

"She's the Oracle," he stated, not elaborating.

Throwing her hands in the air from frustration, Skye persisted, "What the hell? Who's the Oracle and what does that even mean?"

Fitz looked up, "Just exactly what you'd think Oracle would mean."

Upstairs, the woman, Phil and May headed directly for Coulson's office. Ward stopped in the common area long enough to settle his daughter on a couch with a color book he'd pulled out of the backpack she'd been wearing. He made her promise to stay on the couch and went to join the others.

There wasn't a sound coming from the room as he approached, not even idle conversation. He was a bit surprised they'd waited for him. He wasn't sure what he was feeling or even thinking. This was a dirty trick so he went on the defensive, crossing his arms across his chest, he stop barely inside the room glaring at the occupants.

Coulson turned to May, "You've been given the coordinates?" At Agent May's nod, he continued, "Then we'd better get on our way. Time is of the essence. There'll be a briefing in thirty."

May raised her eyebrow, but left the room without comment. She knew she'd be able to speak with Coulson privately later and more than likely Aishani too.

"You could've given me a hint," Ward snarled at Coulson.

"It was classified," the senior agent replied sheepishly.

"I don't like being blind-sided."

The woman, Aishani, finally spoke, "You of all people should know how delicate the situation is. We couldn't run the risk of anyone intercepting our communications."

Ward pinched the bridge of his nose with his left hand. "This isn't the way I wanted everyone to find out I have a child. In fact, I would've preferred they didn't find out at all."

"Grant, we had no choice. My help was requested for your mission and there is no one else to protect her," Aishani told him.

"It was part of the arrangement that I be informed of any and all changes that directly affect my daughter," he stated, the concerned, angry dad coming out.

"We don't believe any of this type of information was leaked when the Rising Tide hacked us, but the bosses felt it would be best to be over cautious, make sure our assets aren't left vulnerable," Coulson said. Poor choice of words.

"I really hope you are talking about Aishani cause I don't appreciate my daughter being referred to as an asset," Grant barked.

"Grant, you need to calm down. You know full well where I go, Charlotte goes. I'd give my life to make sure she is safe," Aishani stated, hoping to placate the man. His anger wasn't unjustified. She'd felt the same way when the plan had first been presented to her but she'd come to see the reasoning behind the secrecy. This was the best option.

Ward shook his head. "I'm gonna go spend some time with my daughter." He turned, taking a couple of steps. "I want my objections noted," he tossed over his shoulder as he went through the door.

"Well that went better than expected," Coulson sighed.

"You and I both know this isn't over, Phil," Aishani returned.

"I was afraid you'd say that," he acknowledged.

"Wow, wait a minute," Skye exclaimed, her brain finally processing the entire conversation. "Did you just say oracle?"

Simmons turned to look at her, "Why, yes, we did."

"But there's no such thing as a clairvoyant. Coulson said they were myths," Skye retorted.

Fitz rejoined the conversation. "They are. She's not a clairvoyant, she's the Oracle."

"Forgive me for sounding stupid here, but isn't that one and the same thing?" Skye's impatience was showing.

The scientists shared an exasperated look. "You tell her, Jem," Fitz stated.

"Well, see, a clairvoyant can see the future where an oracle is more about prophecy and infallible authority," Jemma did her best to keep the explanation simple.

"Prophecy _is_ seeing the future," Skye persisted.

"No, prophecy is telling the future, clairvoyance is seeing the future," Fitz tried again.

"Well, that's a fine line don't you think?" Skye stated more than asked.

Fitz shrugged. "A line is a line."

Realizing she was going to get nowhere with these two, she changed topics. "So, Agent Grant Ward has a daughter." When neither of her companions replied she pushed on, "I wouldn't have thought it was possible."

Finally Simmons gave in, "Of course it's possible. He's a healthy male of the species. His physicals have never indicated that his sperm was incapable of aiding in conception. There are no records of any debilitating injuries to his …"

"Okay, okay!" Skye interrupted, "You can stop right there. I don't need the details of Ward's private," she hesitated, "well, his stuff. What I meant, is that he's not exactly the epitome of a father figure."

Jemma stopped what she was doing and smiled. "She sure is a beautiful little girl. Very graceful and that long dark hair."

Skye had to agree," Yeah, Ward is easy on the eyes, but her mother must be very pretty. Do you think the Oracle is her mother?"

"Highly improbable. The child has no characteristics to suggest she is of partial Indian decent." Fitz/Simmons answered.

Skye couldn't help but take a moment to think about how creepy it actually was the two could do that. "When do you think they'll fill us in on our new mission?"

"When we need to know," they again answered as one.

Skye rolled her eyes. "Well, since I have nothing pressing to do in the lab, I think I'll go to my bunk and oh, I don't know, do something."

"Wheels up in ten. As this is an airborne take off, I suggest you buckle up," May's voice came over the intercom.

"Then I'm definitely going to my bunk," Skye exclaimed.

"I think you should stay with us until we're called," Simmons remarked. Fitz nodded his head in agreement while seeming to randomly move between Skye and the doors.

Realizing the two scientists knew more than they were letting on, she gave up and settled onto a nearby stool. She could wait the pair out.


	2. Chapter 2

Coulson and Aishani joined Ward and Charlotte in the commons area just as he settled the little girl on one of the couches with safety belts. He turned to clean up the crayons and coloring books on the table, not acknowledging their arrival. He grabbed a storybook from Charlotte's backpack and took the seat next to her. For the entire take off all that could be heard was the deep timber of Ward's voice, retelling the story of Sleeping Beauty. It seems like Skye wasn't the only one playing the 'waiting' game.

Before too long, May announced they'd cleared the heli-carrier and it was okay to move around again. Coulson tapped the intercom and informed every one of the mission briefing in ten minutes.

Looking at his watch, he addressed Ward, "Do you want to settle Charlotte down for a nap before the briefing?"

Before he could respond, Charlotte piped up, "Daddy, I'm not tired. Do I hafta take a nap?" Her face encompassing yawn belied her words.

"Let's take Agent Coulson's advice for now and when you get up I'll show you around the bus," Ward replied with a fond smile on his face.

"Daddy, you're so silly. This isn't a bus. It's a plane."

Scooping up his baby, he tossed her in the air as he answered her. "How'd you get to be so smart?" and gave her a little tickle.

Charlotte squealed, "You say my looks came from Mommy and my smarts from you." Ward laughed the whole way to his bunk.

Coulson couldn't help but smile as he watched the pair move away. He was about to comment when the rest of his team started filtering in. He got up, held out his hand to Aishani to help her from the couch and motioned everyone towards the command center. They all heard, but ignored the delighted giggles and the bear like growls emanating from Ward's bunk.

Ward entered the command center to find six pairs of eyes staring at him, only Coulson and Aishani's not holding curiosity. Choosing to ignore all of them he said, "Sorry to keep you waiting, Sir."

"You didn't," Phil rejoined. He quickly introduced Aishani to the team, leaving out her 'position'. He then clicked on the computer screens and turned back to the group. "There's been some interesting activity in Chad, about fifty kilometers from the Libyan border. We've been tasked to find out what is going on and bring back anything we find that might be potentially dangerous."

"Do we know what kind of activity, Sir?" Ward queried.

"Too many people, too many vehicles and too many structures that weren't there a week ago," the senior agent answered.

"If you'll let me, I can pull up the satellite feeds for over that area and we can get a better look at what we're facing," Skye threw in.

Coulson shook his head, "Satellites aren't picking up anything. That's why we're being sent in for research and recovery."

"How did HQ find out about this?" May asked.

"From me," Aishani replied. "I know they are there."

"Tell us all you know," Ward demanded.

Aishani gave him a disappointed look but complied, "I was doing my meditation for Africa when they started to move in. They moved in over night, out of nowhere. I can't read what they are doing."

"Why can't we get feeds from the satellites?" Skye interrupted.

"There seems to be an electronic black out over the area as well as something or someone blocking me," Aishani continued.

"Chad isn't exactly a hot bed we keep tabs on," May pointed out.

"Precisely. Another reason HQ is interested in what's going on," Coulson acknowledged. "We're to set down outside of detection area in Chad, then go in by land."

"Wouldn't it be better to set down in Libya?" Skye wondered.

May rolled her eyes, "S. H. I. E. L. D. doesn't have as strong of relationship with Libya as they do with Chad. Course has been locked by HQ. We should be there in just under eight hours."

Ward glared at Aishani. "Will you be able to tell more when we get closer?"

"I believe so. I feel the shielding is arial. Being on the ground should open the pathways," she nodded.

Skye was trying to wrap her head around the situation, "So this is like an 0-8-4. We go in, investigate and bring the item home."

Ward felt it was his duty as her S.O. to clarify. "Sort of. With an 0-8-4 we know it's an object because it's already been found. R&R means we really don't know what we're dealing with so we'll do research to determine if we need to do a recovery."

"Well, that really cleared things up," Skye sarcastically replied. "We could be walk into a war zone."

"That's why Aishani is here," Coulson assured the group. "No, I suggest we get some rest and prepare ourselves for the unexpected."

The group dispersed rather quickly. May headed for the cockpit, Fitz/Simmons went back to the lab, Ward went to bunk, Coulson made a beeline for his office and Aishani made herself comfortable in the commons. Not being one to let an opportunity pass by, Skye decided to join the woman, hoping to pump some information from her. She sat down in the nearest chair, trying to look casual.

"Go ahead, ask your questions," the older woman said, giving Skye her opening.

"Fitz/Simmons said you're the Oracle. What exactly does that mean?" Skye asked directly.

Aishani chuckled, "It's means just that. I prophesy."

"Do you _see_ the future?" the young agent in training pressed.

"No. I tell the future as it is told to me."

"So, who tells you the future?" Skye continued.

"It's not a who, it's more of a what," the Oracle replied. "It's a voice I hear when I meditate. It tells me what the future is currently."

"What do you mean by currently? The future is the future," Skye state with all the certainty of youth.

"The future is fluid. One act of free will changes the path."

"Are you talking like the butterfly effect? You hear the future, but a butterfly decides to flap it's wings and the future is suddenly different?" Skye inquired.

Aishani just shrugged.

"So if I were to ask, would you be able to tell me if I'll ever meet my mom?" Skye had decided it would be best to get to the point.

"Alas, no, it doesn't work like that."

Skye was confused. "What do you mean? It's not on command or something?"

"I am not able to tell you your future because…."

Ward interrupted before the Oracle could answer, "She can't tell you because she's met you Skye. Isn't that right Aishani?" Distain dripping from his voice.

Neither woman had noticed his return. Skye startled a little. "Jeez, Ward, wear a bell or something."

Aishani responded ignoring the man's vehemence, "That's correct. I'm unable to hear anything about someone I've had contact with."

"So let me get this straight. We are headed to the middle of nowhere because you heard about this place, but when we get there, you won't be able to tell us what we need to do because you know us and on top of that, if I sneeze, what you are able to tell is might change," Skye ranted.

Unfazed by the tirade, Aishani shrugged again. "It's a bit more complicated than that Skye."

"It always is," Skye retorted. "I wish just once someone in S.H.I.E.L.D would tell it like it is. No half finished sentences, cryptic statements."

"Skye," Ward started.

"I know, I know. Above my pay grade, clearance level, whatever," she rejoined before she blind-sided him, "So a daughter huh? She's really cute. How old is she? Where's her mom?"

"My daughter is not a subject I'm willing to discus with you," the S.O. growled, trying not to take a menacing step towards her and failing.

Trying to ease the girl's obvious discomfort at her S.O.'s behavior, Aishani spoke up, "Grant why don't you sit down and act like a civilized human being. You're scaring the poor girl."

"Oh, I've seen him worse," Skye quipped, trying to shake off the moment.

Ward emits a sound similar to "hrrumph" as he sits down. It's clear that he doesn't want to be there and it's just as clear he is hard pressed to find a reason to leave.

"Is she out for the count?" the Indian beauty asks quietly.

A smile slowly spreads across the man's face. "Yeah. She was out before I pulled the covers up, already spread out crosswise."

Aishani smiled back. "She does love to sprawl. I tired to share a hotel bed with her while the house was being fixed after the battle of New York. She took over the whole space. I slept on the couch after the first night."

"You could have put a roll away in the room," Grant reasoned.

"Have you ever slept on a roll away? The couch is more comfortable."

Skye sat quietly, following the conversation. She didn't want to make a noise for fear the other two would remember she was there and they'd quit talking. Her S.O.'s transformation is fascinating. Until today, she would've said he didn't have the capacity to be 'warm or fuzzy' but watching him, listening to him speak about his daughter she couldn't see a trace of the hard-nosed black ops specialist. She saw a dad. She came out of her musings to her Ward's reply, "I usually end up on the floor."

"I would never put her in harm's way. You know that, Grant," Aishani whispered reaching out to touch his leg.

He jerked back, standing abruptly. "You don't intend to put her in harm's way is what you mean. I'll bet you didn't suggest a different team for this op did you?"

"No, I did not," she replied shamelessly. "No harm will come to her as long as she stays on the plane."

"Yeah, I've heard that before. I need to go check on some things," he grumbled under his breath, stomping away.

Ward had just disappeared down the stairs as Coulson came down from his office. "Ward doing okay?" he asked, addressing both women.

"Ward's being Ward," Skye replied. Coulson looked to Aishani for confirmation.

"I agree. He's behaving per normal," the Oracle confirmed.

"So, he's being a jackass then," Coulson stated.

"Pretty much," the women answered almost in unison.

"You have to give him a break, Phil. This was sprung on him and he has never been one for surprises." Aishani's soft smile betrayed her liking of the prickly agent.

"We have a job to do. He needs to remember that," the older man insisted.

"He will. He always does. He just needs time to make the separation again. You always said that we take this job, knowing our choices. Grant made his and we tend to keep throwing it back in his face," she reasoned.

There was a long pause before the senior agent spoke again, "Yes, I guess we do. I need to do something about that." Turning to the younger woman, he continued, "Skye, I need you to find out everything you can about the northern part of Chad and the southern part of Libya . Get all the basics and any anomalies you can find about the area."

Skype jumped up, happy to have something to do but disappointed that she didn't have more time with their guest. "I'm on it, AC."

The two left in the commons sat in silence, lost in their own thoughts. To their surprise, May joined after a while.

"Melinda, it's good to see you again," Aishani greeted her.

"Didn't think you'd ever set foot on a plane again," May countered in lieu of a greeting.

"Well, being on the index sometimes leaves one without a choice," the Oracle responded.

"Skye gave you the third degree," May guessed.

Aishani smiled. "She tried. I don't think she was satisfied with my answers."

"She wouldn't be," May stated flatly.

"She's young. Still has a lot to learn," Coulson added.

"Her youth will be her downfall if she's not careful," the Oracle countered.

"That's why she's on the team. We'll keep her safe," the senior agent claimed. May rolled her eyes but kept quite.

"Our course locked in?" Coulson asked his pilot.

"Locked and we're right on schedule. I'm planning on a vertical landing," May answered.

"Good. I've got Skye researching the area so we might know before it's time to land," he told her.

Suddenly, Aishani clapped her hands together to get their attention. "How about I fix dinner for everyone? How does Indian sound?" she asked with a chuckle.

Coulson smiled, "The galley is yours."

Fitz and Simmons barely made it back to the lab before they restarted their previous conversation.

"She's not what I expected," Simmons declared.

"Yeah, she's not as intimidating as everyone says," Fitz agreed, "She seems so normal."

"Normal as compared to what? Something that is abnormal?" Simmons queried. "Have you ever met another oracle? You have no data to make an informed comparison."

Fitz looked sheepish. "Well, you don't either."

"I'm not the one who's making assumptions," Simmons shot back. "Do you think she'd let us, well you know, maybe…" She trailed off.

"You want to study the Oracle?" Fitz asked, incredulous.

"No," she screeched. "Well, maybe. Just a little."

"I don't think that would be such a good idea, Jem."

"Admit it. You want to too."

"Maybe," Fitz muttered, "but I'd never." His sentence was cut off by the opening of the lab doors and a dark haired child exclaiming, "Coooool!"

"Well hello there, sweet one. Does your daddy know you're down here?" Simmons asked the tot.

Charlotte skipped around the lab, oblivious to the unease coming from the adults. "Nope," she sing songed.

They had to give her credit, she didn't touch anything just looked closely at everything. "I think we should take you back to your father," Fitz stated. "This is no place for a little girl."

Charlotte turned, placed her hands on her hips and shot him a look that she had to have learned from Ward. "I'm not a little girl. I'm five."

"That certainly is the age of a big girl, but the lab isn't a place for even big girls. Now, let's go find your father," Simmons soothed the child's hurt feelings.

"Daddy told me not to leave the area's I know. He's not in the areas I know. I looked," Charlotte explained.

"Let's go up to the living room and we'll page him. How does that sound?" Simmons tried to reason with her.

"Okay," she agreed quickly taking Simmons' hand and skipping to the stairs. Jemma was hard pressed not to smile at the youngster.

The pair were met at mid stair by a stern looking Ward. "Charlotte, what are you doing down here? She didn't cause any trouble did she, Simmons?"

Simmons looked a little scared while Charlotte looked unrepentant. "I was looking for you, Daddy, and I didn't touch."

Ward glanced at Simmons for verification and at the woman's slight nod, he reached for his daughter's hand. "I've got it from here, thanks Simmons. Come my little explorer. Aishani is fixing dinner."

Simmons thought how remarkable the transformation in Ward was. All his gruff, rough edges disappeared the minute he looked at his daughter. It was simply adorable. She lingered long enough to hear him chastise the imp for her behavior. Simply adorable.


	3. Chapter 3

The father daughter duo made a beeline for the galley. Both immediately started helping the Oracle with dinner preparations. The dichotomy made for an entertaining moment for Coulson currently observing the trio from his seat on the couch. Ward and Charlotte interacted constantly but neither of them spoke to Aishani, yet the three moved in perfect harmony as if they'd been working together for years, like a family unit. The adults doing the bulk of the work, but including the child with age appropriate tasks. The irony was not lost on the senior agent.

Despite the high tech ventilation system or maybe because of it, the wonderful smells of food and spices wafted throughout the bus. The exotic scents soon had the entire team gravitating to the commons. They were unusually quiet as they too watched the spectacle before them. Soon an array of dishes were placed across the breakfast bar and if the team noticed the three's synchronicity, they were wise enough to keep it to themselves.

Ward looked up, not surprised to see the team already assembled. "Food's on. Come get your plates."

"The dishes on this end are on the spicier side," Aishani said gesturing to the right side of the counter, "these here are flavorful," pointing to the middle dishes, "and these are on the blander side for those with a more delicate palate," indicating the remaining plates.

Grant pulled out two plates already full and motioned for Charlotte to follow him. He sat the little girl down at one of the tables, making sure she had utensils and a napkin. He looked up to see everyone sitting with full plates, casting sideways glances at him. He deliberately chewed his mouthful slowly, making a show of swallowing. "Fine. Charlotte," he spoke his daughter, "this is Agent May, Agent Coulson, Agent Fitz, Agent Simmons and Miss Skye." He pointed to each person in turn. "People, this is my daughter Charlotte. Everyone happy now?"

The little girl beamed, "Nice to meet you." Eyeing each person intently first, she turned to her daddy, "Are these the people who help keep you safe?" Disbelief laced her tone.

Ward chuckled, "They're stronger and tougher than they look, honey."

"Okay," she replied, drawing the word out, clearly indicating she would need more convincing.

Coulson couldn't hide his smile. "Looks can be deceiving, little one."

"What's deceiving?" she asked, giving the older man a look that clearly said don't you lie to me.

Coulson's grin widen. "It means that when you look at someone, you can't always tell who they really are."

"Oh," Charlotte responded like that cleared everything up for her. Turning back to her dad she asked, "Did you know that Barbie and Ken use to _date _but they don't do that any more, now they're just friends?"

The whole room went quiet, anticipating their black ops man's reply. Ward almost choked on his food, "Really? I didn't know that."

"Yeah, they didn't want to make Barbie's friends jealous," she replied enthusiastically.

"Sweetheart, do you even know what dating means?" Grant questioned, looking ready to incapacitate the person who dared teach his baby about such things.

"Daddy," Charlotte groaned, "course I do. It means they hold hands and take naps together."

Ward shot Aishani a murderous look before responding, "Honey, who told you this?"

A perfect picture of innocence, Charlotte stage whispered, "Emily. She's real smart. She's eight."

"Charlotte, only people who are married take naps together," Grant stated calmly, studiously ignoring May's presence.

Charlotte gave her dad 'the look', the one he'd hoped she wouldn't perfect until she was at least sixteen, the one that said, 'clearly, you're an idiot, but you're my dad so I love you anyway'. "Daddy, Emily's mom and dad are dating. They have to get a babysitter for Emily on date night. Mr. Martin says it keeps their marriage new. I guess that means they keep getting married. Can you get married more than once, Daddy? Cause if you can, maybe we should get you married."

Grant had no appropriate response so he said, "Finish up your dinner."

Skye couldn't resist teasing her S.O. "That sounds like an excellent idea, Charlotte. I know a couple of women we could introduce your dad to."

Ward growled under his breath but it was enough of a noise for Skye to catch the underlying message.

"Jeez. Just teasing, Ward. Chill. Maybe it's you who needs to get laid."

"Little ears, Skye, little ears," Coulson warned.

Charlotte proving his pointed, looked directly at Skye and said, "You're silly. Daddy can't laid, he's not a chicken."

While Ward choked again, Aishani stepped in, trying desperately not to laugh, "What do you mean, Charlotte?"

In a perfect imitation of her father's cockiness, the small brunette answered, "Chicken eggs," as if that made everything clear.

"Chicken eggs?" Ward queried, still trying to follow the five-year-old's logic.

"Only chickens laid. They laid eggs." The 'duh' strongly implied.

As any good father would do, Grant affirmed her statement, "You're right. Only chickens laid. How bout we go wash up and then I'll give you that tour I promised?"

The pair were barely out of ear shot before the remain group bust out laughing.

"I didn't think it was physically possible for the great Agent Grant Ward to blush," Fitz chortled.

"He was sporting a rather rouge complexion, wasn't he," Simmons concurred.

Hoping to prevent any further harassment of his agent, Coulson stood up and regarded the rest of his team. "Agent May, Aishani and I have some case details to go over. You three are on dish duty."

Before their combined groans could completely formulate, he continued, "It's only fair. Someone else did the cooking, you three can do the clean up." With that he motioned for the two women to proceed him to the command center.

A moment after that, Ward's com line beeped in his ear. "Ward, you're needed in the command center," May's said.

"I'll be there in a minute. I need to find something to occupy Charlotte."

Coulson's voice replaced May's, "Fitz/Simmons and Skye are doing dishes. They'll be able to keep her out of trouble."

Ward sighed deeply before responding, "Roger that, Sir."

He felt a tug on his pant leg and looked down to see his daughter's smiling face. "Duty calls?"

"Yeah, sweetheart, duty calls. Come on, I'll introduce you properly to the rest. Promise me you'll behave."

"Always, Daddy, always." Ward knew his daughter was too much like her mother to believe the ingenuous look she gave him.

Back in the galley, the three other team members were horsing around more than completing their task.

Ward cleared his throat to get their attention so he could reintroduce his daughter. "Guys, I'd like you to meet Charlotte. Charlotte, this is Skye, Fitz and Simmons. I need you to stay here with them while I work. Simmons, would you mind watching after her?"

The scientist smiled, "Of course not." She bent down to look in the little girl's eyes. "You can call me Jemma. Would you like to help me put away the leftovers?"

Trusting Charlotte was in good hands, Ward hugged her quickly before heading to the war room.

Holding her hand out to the child, Jemma said, "Well, come on then. Let's get to it."

Skye was a bit put out that Ward hadn't asked her to watch the kid but she wasn't really surprised. He hadn't completely forgiven her. Never the less, she tried to draw the child out but she proved to be a pint-sized Grant Ward in a sundress. Skye didn't believe cagey was genetic until today. It came to the point where Fitz whispered in her ear to "lay off".


	4. Chapter 4

The group acknowledged Ward's arrival with nods. "Aishani, fill us in what you know so far," Coulson instructed.

"It's a moderate size camp, maybe fifty or sixty people, several tents, not too heavy on the armaments. Not everyone is packing. There seems to be several working at desks or table in the largest of the tents. Complete details are shielded from me. It troubles me greatly that I'm unable to hear words. It's as if there is a void around the tents. I can hear snippets of conversation when the people are outside of the tents, but it is general information, what's for breakfast, which soccer team won last night and what not."

Long use to how Aishani operates, Ward absorbed the info. May had to ask questions, "How do you know about the tents and how many people?"

Aishani shrugged. "When I hear that many voices, usually when it gets over forty people, it becomes a cacophony. I have to concentrate to count, so it's a generous estimate. As for the tents and other details, it's what they talk about when they are in pairs, outside of the dwellings. Their conversations are, for lack of a better word, timid. Almost as if someone is constantly listening, monitoring them."

The three identical stares she received made her laugh. "Even those who know about me, know I don't monitor one place 24/7."

The three agents chortled in return. "It's the irony of the statement," Coulson said.

She rolled her eyes, "Like I haven't heard _that_ before."

"Yeah, I suppose you have," he agreed sheepishly. "May, how much longer to the destination?"

May pulled out her tablet. "We'll be there in about two hours. It'll approximately two a.m. there."

Phil turned to Aishani. "Can you tell if they work round the clock?"

She shook her head. "Things wind up about around eleven. We should have a nice window to land and settle in before they restart about seven."

"That should give us time to do some close recognizance and set up distance surveillance," Ward commented.

"You, May, Aishani and I will go in for a closer look. We'll have Skye see if they are running any computers. Maybe Fitz/Simmons can send in the dwarves," Coulson added. "The whole team will reconvene after landing."

The group exited to find the rest of their team playing charades in the commons area. It appeared to be Simmons and Charlotte against Fitz and Skye, with the former winning.

"Daddy, Daddy, come play with us," Charlotte squealed.

Ward looked to Coulson. "We might as well have some fun while we can. We don't know what's next," the senior agent exclaimed. May excused herself to the cockpit while the other three teamed up. They were behind after all.

Twenty minutes later all conceded defeat to Charlotte and Simmons. Ward would never take his little girl's imagination for granted again. It was time to tuck the child into bed and pray she slept longer than just the night. Even with Aishani there, he wasn't sure how well she'd handle him going on an op. After she'd said goodnight to everyone, he threw her over his shoulder to carry her to bed. Aishani sent a knowing look to Coulson, excused herself and went towards the cockpit. Coulson instructed the remaining team to double check all the surveillance equipment and went to his office to update HQ.

The gentle tap on the door didn't surprise her, May knew Aishani would come to see her eventually. The wait for an answer however, was unexpected. "Come in," she sighed.

The Oracle moved gracefully to the co-pilot's seat, asking for permission to sit with a slight inclination of her head. May nodded. The two women sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Aishani spoke.

"How are you doing, Melinda," she asked quietly.

"I'm fine," the agent replied.

"Well, that's good to know," came the retort. Silence settled again. "So how long have you and Grant been sleeping together?"

Melinda might have grimaced but you'd have to know her well to catch it. Aishani knew her very well. "Don't bother asking how I know. It's somewhat surprising that Phil hasn't caught on. Then again, he's different since he died. Subtleties are a bit lost on him."

May turned to stare at her companion. "Since the Berserker staff incident."

"Huh. I can't imagine either of you are handling it all that well. Grant less than you," Aishani stated staring back, seeing something in her friend's eyes. "Then again, he might be handling it better."

"Are you trying to psychoanalysis me, Aishani?" May asked.

"No, Melinda. I'm just making conversation."

"Then I suggest you change the subject," Melinda requested.

"Okay, I can do that. How about the weather, Obamacare, the current controversy over _Duck Dynasty, _how McDonalds doesn't want its employees eating fast food, _why_ you're sleeping with Grant or how yummy Nutella is? Anyone of those topics acceptable?"

Melinda didn't deign to answer.

"Alright, we can just sit here gazing at the horizon," Aishani conceded.

After thirty minutes of complete silence, the Oracle stood, making to leave the room. Before she closed the door behind her, she turned to her friend, "Thank you for the conversation. As always, it was enlightening."

May nodded and flipped a few switches, readying the bus for landing. She mentally chastised herself. She'd fell for it again. Aishani could always get more from her in silence than in spoken word. Her friend had skills beyond being the Oracle and damn it, if May wasn't her favorite test subject.

The brief was, well, brief. Coulson quickly brought the whole team up to date and sent them on their way to make ready for landing and the assignment. Fitz/Simmons made for the lab to check weapons and basically fiddle with things. Skye booted up the computers to start searching for any cyber activity in the region. May returned to the cockpit while Coulson made himself comfortable in the lounge. Ward went to check on his daughter before checking on the field packs. Aishani trailed behind him, waiting him out.

It took him longer than she expected to crack. He was half way through the third pack before he growled, "What? What do you want?"

She couldn't help the smile that graced her face. "Ever the charmer. What makes you think I want something? I could be following you for the enjoyment of your delightful company."

She didn't think his scowl could deepen, but it did. "You rarely do anything without a purpose. Why would now be any different?"

"Don't presume to know me, Grant. That usually doesn't end well."

Unperturbed, he finished his check and stood up, crowding into her space. "What ever you have going, leave Charlotte out of it."

"I have no intention of Charlotte being a part of any of this. She is only here because there wasn't a sitter available."

"Okay, yeah. It's not like you can leave her with just anyone," Ward acquiesced.

"How are you dealing with the aftermath of the Berserker incident?"

Blinking from the rapid change of subject, Ward took a moment to gather his thoughts. "Not as well as I'd like. Better than I'd hoped."

Aishani reached out, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Ward leaned into her touch, taking comfort. Their relationship was complicated, beyond the realm of explanation to outsiders. They were happy leaving it at that.

He pulled back, taking her hand. "We'd better find a seat for landing. As good as May is, the terrain could be rough."

"Don't let her ever hear you say that," Aishani chuckled.

"I have more self preservation than that," he snorted.

Despite Ward's joke, landing was uneventful and soon the ground team was making their way across the Saharan region of Chad towards their mystery site with Skye and Fitz/Simmons monitoring their movements from the bus.

"Skye, anything on the internet?" Coulson asked.

"Nothing," the young agent-in-training replied. "If they are using, they're on a closed network."

"Well, they definitely have power," Ward stated. "We can see the light dome from here, but it doesn't seem to penetrate very high into the air. It's almost like a low lying fog."

"Light doesn't do that, unless there is a structure to intervene," Fitz commented.

"We're not close enough yet for visual," Coulson stated. "We'll check in when we are. Skye, keep searching. We need info."

"Copy that," was the response.

As the ground team moved closer, they slowed their approach. The terrain didn't provide much cover so they were exceedingly careful. Once they reached minimum binocular distance, they settled in for observation.

Coulson looked to Aishani, "Do your thing."

The Oracle sat down cross-legged on the ground, facing away from their target. She placed her hands on her knees and closed her eyes. Two of her companions held their breaths. She laughed softly, "Don't pass out, people. Normal breathing doesn't affect the process." Absolutely none of them blushed.

Ward, more familiar with the process, sat down and made himself comfortable. He watched her intently waiting for the slight tip of the head to indicate she'd picked up on something. He'd always thought she looked like a labrador puppy anticipating a bone at that stage. Maybe some day when he was truly pissed at her, he'd tell her.

Ah, there it was, the almost imperceptible cant. Ward clicked on the recorder. In a hushed tone, she began, "It's just after dawn. There's four men talking about starting breakfast in the food tent." It's then her voice changed as did her speaking language. Ward was thankful Chadian Arabic was close enough to Arabic so he could translate.

"You two get the fish ready. We'll prep the fruit."

"Fish and fruit again. We've had that for the last three weeks."

"Don't let them hear you. You'll be shot. We're not indispensable like the people in the tent."

"I know, I'm just saying they could bring in some beef or some breads."

"Hey, did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"That. It sounds like a scuffle."

"We'd better check it out."

"You check it out. It's not my job. That's what the guards are for."

"Quick. Hide. It looks like we're under attack."

"Hide in the kitchen. No one will look for us."

Suddenly the Oracle started speaking in French and proper Arabic, switching as a different person spoke.

"We've got company."

"It's two women."

"Grab them."

"Stop fighting you dirty woman."

"I don't care about any water. How did you find this place? What are you doing here?"

"Pull off their scarves."

"Sir, it's obvious they're Muslim. We'd shame them if we did that."

"Fine, fine. Calm down you bloody she cat. We're not going to remove your hijab."

"Take them to the holding tent. See if you can get them to talk. Remember, we're to remain invisible here. Don't do anything to them that will attract attention."

The languages the Oracle spoke changed again. Now there was a mix of the previous with the addition of English and Chinese.

"Who are you? How'd you get in here?"

"Guards! Guards!"

"Everyone, infiltration protocol! Protect the generator!"

"Arggghh!"

Abruptly, Aishani moaned and fell to her side. Ward caught her before her head could hit the ground. "Grant there's too many voices. I can't discern them all."

Coulson sent a concerned look at her. "Was the assault us?"

"Give her a second, Sir," Ward uttered. "It takes her a bit to come out of it."

Soon the Oracle was sitting on her own, sipping from a water bottle. "I couldn't see the attackers, so I'm assuming it's us. Once intruders were discovered in the big tent it was chaos. None of the people I could hear seemed able to fight. Their words were more computer talk and about the generator."

"Where are the guards?" Ward asked, getting to what he considered the most important aspect.

"There doesn't seem to be more than six. They were more concerned with the two women. They didn't even comment on the shouted 'Guard'. They continued on with their original plan to interrogate the women. It's as if the noises in the big tent don't penetrate the canvas."

"Let's set up our parabolic mics and see if that's true. We'll monitor their activities for a day. See if we can get some more info on their movements," Coulson ordered.

Ward and May made quick work of executing the orders. After making sure they were transmitting with the proper scrambling, the group made their way back to the bus.

It was immediately evident that Skye was having way too much fun keeping their communications under wraps. She barely looked up from the computer table when her team mates joined her a little after four a.m.. Her concentration didn't prevent her from giving them and update though.

"Their network is definitely closed. The only outside link they have is a satellite phone that was turned on just before you got back. I didn't put a trace on it as a link to the satellite would be way too easy for them to track back to us."

"Put the audio over the speakers in here and run the translation programs. We'll take shifts monitoring. Ward, you take the first run so you can catch some sleep before Charlotte wakes. May'll relieve you. Skye, you're third. Aishani, you want a turn?" At her nod, he continued, "We'll give Fitz the next run and let Simmons sleep. Charlotte seems to be taken with her so it'll be better if we leave her care in Jemma's hands. Alright, let's get some shut eye. Ward, May will be down in three."

With that, the others departed to their beds and Grant settled in with a notebook and pen. Taking notes would help him stay awake. Not even thirty minutes later, Charlotte crept in and cuddled up in his lap. He should have sent her back to bed, but he couldn't. These moments with his daughter were all too rare so he tended to indulge her, cherishing the time. He hummed a lullaby while continuing to take notes. It was fairly quiet in the camp, only the occasional snore or the stumbling movements of the not quite awake getting up to relieve themselves broke the silence. Ward didn't figure things would pick up until just after dawn, which would be on May's shift.

May, ever punctual, walked in to the command center at six thirty on the dot. She halted, taking in the sight. Ward had his feet kicked up on an extra chair. His one hand occupied by drawing doodles on his note pad while his other was idly playing with the ends of Charlotte's hair. The little girl was on her belly, spread eagle over her father's torso and thighs. The scene shocked the enigmatic agent. She would never have guessed her lover had it in him.

Whispering, she said, "I'm here to relieve you. Anything of important?"

"Yeah, we need to have Fitz/Simmons tone down the sensitivity of the mics. I so do not need to know that several of inhabitants had beans for dinner," Ward yawned.

May smiled, "Good to know. Did you make note of it?"

"It's at the top of both pages," he replied, gesturing to the note pad. "They don't seem to be concerned with security. There was a half hearted patrol when the privies were occupied."

"What the hell is this place?" May asked not expecting an answer.

"Hopefully we'll find out soon," Ward responded. "I'm going to take this one back to bed," he added as he rose with his daughter in his arms. May nodded her acknowledgement.

May watched the pair go, still amazed at the site. She settled into the now unoccupied chair, finding it pleasantly warm, unconsciously mimicking the previous occupant's pose. She flipped the switch to engage the headphones that Ward had given up, probably in favor of unrestricted movement given his companion. She glance through his notes, verifying, as he said, nothing of import had been said. She had to smirk at his doodles, birds, balls, trees, dolls and a few other kids toys had replaced the black ops usual drawings of weapons and fighting stances. She was beginning to wonder if she really knew anything about the man at all.

Melinda had about a half hour of inconsequential noise before things started to pick up. She heard everything about breakfast, last night's nightmares and the aforementioned bodily functions, yet there was still nothing substantial. It quickly became apparent that the strictures were not to say anything about their work unless they were in the main tent. The threat must have been severe as no one slipped up. May found herself copying Ward's sketches.

When Skye's shift elicited no change in status, Coulson instructed her to run the S.H.I.E.L.D program that monitored catch words and phrases and have it ping through the comms when or if anything of import was said.


	5. Chapter 5

Breakfast on the bus, traditionally a haphazard affair became a production when a petite five year old brunette tornado entered the room. It seems the pint sized adult wannabe, fashionably attired in her Tinkerbell nightgown and Cinderella ballet slippers, had the habit of watching healthy living shows so it was imperative the entire team have a well balanced breakfast.

Charlotte inspected everyone's plate before they sat down to eat. If there were some suggestions of additions or alterations, not a single person argued. Ward smiled indulgently and did as told.

Finally assembling her own plate the child choose a spot next to Agent May. "You did real good," she told the older woman as she picked up her own fork.

"Pardon me?" May asked, confused.

"You picked all the right foods," the child stated calmly. "You did at dinner too."

May took a second before responding, "Well, you're not the only one who watches health and lifestyle programs."

Charlotte perked up at the news. "Really?! What are you're favorites? Mine are _The Chew, Cathy Silvers _and _Healthy Gourmet_."

"I like those too, but most of what I see is on the computer because of work," May answered.

"The _Healthy Gourmet_ is online. You could watch that," Charlotte informed her.

May smiled, "I'll make a point of searching for that one."

"You should. Daddy tries to be good but he likes peanut butter cookies too much." The emphatic stage whisper brought a general chuckle from the group.

Ward took advantage of his daughter's last mouthful to run away from more embarrassment and preclude any more of his secrets being divulged by informing his precocious off spring that he was going to show her the joys of an airplane shower. She protested vociferously until she was assured that the breakfast dishes would be taken care of even if she was the one to make the mess.

"Not so sure the world is ready for two Ward's," Fitz commented after making sure the dynamic duo was out of ear shot.

Simmons looked to Aishani, "Is she always like that?"

The Oracle smiled ruefully, "I wish I could say no but she came out of the womb that way, just like her father at that age."

"So personality is genetic," Simmons stated.

"In this case, yes," Aishani confirmed.

"Wait, you knew Ward when he was that little?" Skye asked. "You don't look old enough."

There was an overall gasp in the room. "Way to stick your foot in your mouth, Skye," Fitz said pointedly.

Ignoring the young agent's social faux pas, the Oracle answered, "I appreciate the compliment. Yes, I've known Grant for a long time."

"I'd love to hear stories," Skye exclaimed.

"Another time, maybe. Right now I'm going to offer my assistance with the shower before the plane gets flooded," Aishani declared, cutting off Skye's interest.

Coulson clapped his hands. "Let's get the meal cleaned up and then everyone meet in the command center in an hour. We're going to figure out our course of action."

An hour later found all of the bus' tenants assembled around the computer table. "She'll get bored and run out to color within two minutes," Ward asserted after catching the questioning looks everyone shot him. His declaration became fact when Charlotte wiggled out of his arms ten seconds after hearing the words 'viable tactics'.

"Okay, let's go over what we know so far. Skye, please show us what you've outlined," Coulson requested.

The young agent looked slightly nervous, but quickly got herself under control. "We have a camp consisting of eleven tents, the largest one centralized with remaining forming a protective circle on the perimeter. The remaining tents house a cafeteria, an HQ and sleeping quarters. All conversations are day to day boring except for what is said in the main tent. Anything said in there is a mystery as it seems to have some type of sound proofing. The inhabitants appear unconcerned about safety because there aren't any patrols or watches. The six guards they do have walk between the HQ tent and the main one, complaining about poor arch support in their boots. The whole compound is shielded somehow from arial view. Satellites show darkness in the area, empty desert, yet we know they have power of some type because they are running a kitchen and Ward heard a phone conversation between one of the guards and who is probably his teenage daughter considering the topic. That's all we got."

"We're going to need to go in," Ward said. "Aishani heard what is mostly likely an infiltration by us so we just need to iron out the details."

Coulson nodded. "Here's what we're going to do. Agent May and Skye will dress as two Islamic women. Their cover is they are a part of a nomadic group looking for water when they came upon the compound. Agents Ward, Fitz and myself will infiltrate the main tent. Whatever's going on, it has to be some type of equipment causing the sound and sight disruption. Simmons and Aishani will stay on the bus and monitor us and the surrounding area. Who knows what type of back up these people have. I don't want any outside surprises."

"We should execute between two and four in the morning. That's when it seems the occupants of the main tent are the fewest," Skye added.

"Well, look at you. Sounding all mission-y and such," Simmons praised. "Execute, really."

Skye beamed at the compliment. It would've meant more coming from her S.O., but whatever.

"Sir, won't it be a bit suspicious that two women are looking for water in the middle of the night," Simmons asked their senior agent.

"You're right. We need more of a back story," Coulson agreed.

"How about we say it's need for the animals. Say an ornery camel knocked over the buckets we're using for the night. We don't want the men to be mad that we have no water in the morning," May contributed.

"Good. Good. Let's go with that," Coulson approved. "All right, let's make sure everything is ready and make sure everyone gets enough shut-eye. We need to be on our toes going in."

"Sir, if I may," Ward half asked.

"Of course," the senior agent said, "by all means."

The black ops specialist leaned forward to point to where their current microphone set up was before he went on. "We have our parabolic here, but I wonder if set up the laser mics here," pointing to a location on the other side of the encampment, "we might pick up different chatter. Also, we could set up a video feed and take some stills. If we use the cycle, we can travel around the camp outside of hearing and then make the short hike in to proper surveillance distance."

Phil rubbed his chin as he considered the suggestion. "It sounds good to me. Does anyone see any flaws?" When no one spoke up, he gave his consent. "All right let's do it, sooner rather than later. It'll give us more information for tonight. Ward, you and Skye change into desert camo and get on your way."

Ward bit his lip but didn't comment on his boss's choice of a partner. Skye however, looked nervous. "Shouldn't someone with more experience go with him?" she stuttered out.

Coulson gave her one of his patented looks and left the room.

Ward looked at the trainee. "You said you wanted to be a S.H.I. . agent. This is part of the job. Get suited up. We leave in twenty." Ward left the room, stopping to speak with his daughter before heading to his bunk for a quick change and then collecting the necessary equipment.

May motioned to Skye, "Come on. You can use my camos, since I'm positive no one bothered to get you any." Skye followed the other woman quickly as she didn't want to risk her S.O.'s wrath. She was positive he hadn't completely forgiven her for her deception and she didn't want to give him any more ammunition.

Not needing to be told, Fitz/Simmons hurried to get the equipment ready before Ward was ready for it. They almost made it.

Fitz looked up from his task of packing the motorcycle's saddle bag to see Ward rushing down the spiral stairs to the cargo bay. "I've put the cameras and mics on this side and the batteries for the stationary ones on this side," he pointed out to the specialist. "We should have a good three days worth of power. Try not to break anything while bouncing over the desert. The tires on the bike aren't manufactured for sand maneuvers."

"Fitz, I've done this before," Ward stated flatly.

"Not with my equipment you haven't," the scientist retorted.

"Fair enough," the operative acknowledged.

Fitz proceeded to go over all the functionalities of the equipment while Ward listened with half an ear. He just needed to know how to make them work, not how to turn the picture into sepia tones or make their targets sound like Daffy Duck. Skye arrived with five minutes to spare. May's bdu's didn't fit quite right, but they worked in a pinch.

Ward gave his charge a once over. "Remind me to requisition you some mission clothes," he told her before he turned the GPS on, climbed on the bike and jerked his in a silent order for her to get on behind him.

"Ward, being a little forward aren't you? You haven't even taken me out for dinner yet," she couldn't help joking.

Ward's answer was a smirk as he deliberately popped the clutch, forcing her to grab the seat bars to keep from falling off. She would've grabbed his waist in retaliation, but the man was wearing a backpack that kept enough distance between them that even a Catholic school nun would find acceptable.

"Hey, I said be careful with the equipment," Fitz yelled uselessly at the departing pair.

Upstairs in the lounge area Aishani, Charlotte, May and Coulson sat killing time until their reconnaissance team checked in.

Charlotte looked up from the storybook she was flipping through give Coulson a disconcerting look. "She's going to get him hurt."

The child's sudden announcement startled him. "Who's going to hurt who, sweetie?" he asked in a gentle tone.

"The young girl, she's going to get Daddy hurt," she replied with all the innocence of youth and all the certainty of an adult.

Aishani jumped into the conversation. "Skye wouldn't hurt your daddy, Charlotte. Why do you think she would?"

"Cause he doesn't trust her and cause of that something she does will hurt him," the five year old claimed.

"How do you know this?" the Oracle pushed the youngster.

Charlotte rearranged herself into a very Grant-like pose before she responded, "I felt it when Daddy kissed me bye." With that she promptly became engrossed in her book again.

Coulson looked to the Oracle. "She ever done this before?" his tone clearly stating the unasked, _should we be making note of this and be concerned about this_.

The older woman shook her head. "She's always had a close bond with her father. The last time they were together she had me get an ice pack ready because Grant was about to stub his toe, which he did a few minutes later. He is the only one she has ever connected with." She put up her hand to forestall his interruption. "Before you ask, Fury already knows."

May had been studying the child during the conversation. "The knowledge doesn't seem to disturb her. It must not be much of an injury."

Aishani smiled tightly. "She's young. Bumps, bruises and some blood are all routine. She probably equates her own mishaps with what will happen to Grant."

"She's a lot like her mother too then," Coulson stated. Aishani didn't bother with a response.


	6. Chapter 6

It didn't take long for Skye and Ward to reach the target location. They'd road the bike in to take a northern position hoping to find a spot along one of the mountain ridges and they did. They had to leave the bike and hike upwards a ways to get a good vantage point. Ward took them opportunity to show his trainee how to keep herself low and centered so as not to attract attention while hiking or climbing. Even though she tended to try and stand completely upright, he had to give her kudos as she did good for a rookie.

Once they reached the ledge he'd picked out, Ward tasked Skye with starting the set up of the stationary items while he pulled out the digital camera to snap off a few stills. He wanted to be able to send some pictures when he called in their update.

"Uh, Ward, you may want to check this out. I don't the camera is working correctly," Skye said, gesturing to the small screen.

Ward leaned over her should to see what she was referring to. "What the hell?" He clicked on his com. "Fitz/Simmons are you getting this? Your equipment isn't working."

Back in at the bus, Fitz was already running a remote diagnostic. "Everything is in perfect working order."

"Well, if everything is perfect, what's going on," Ward snarled.

Fitz actually looked up at the screen. His, "What the Bloody Hell," barely left his mouth before the rest of the team was charging through the lab doors,having seen the pictures on the screens in the command center.

"Fitz/Simmons, Ward, Skye. One of you want to explain why you've chosen to play some more pranks during an op?" Coulson demanded.

"This isn't a prank," all of the accused answered in unison.

"Then what the hell is this?" Coulson yelled.

"This is, well this is…." Simmons tried but her sentence trailed off.

Everyone stared at the large screen on the wall. The compound was in clear view, well most of the compound was in clear view. The picture before them showed the lower half of all the tents only.

Aishani walked closer to the screen, tilting her head hoping it would help make sense of what they were seeing. "It looks like someone has taken a brush and wiped out the tops with sand colored paint," she said to no one in particular.

"Ward, what do you and Skye see with the naked eye?" Fitz asked, also tilting his head at the picture.

"The entire compound. Tops and bottoms," came the immediate reply.

"What about with the digital?" the scientist pushed.

"Hold on a sec." After a brief pause, Skye's voice filled the room. "The stills Ward took show the same thing as we're seeing on the video feed. Bottoms of the tents, from about the top of the door flaps down."

Coulson directed his gaze towards the two scientists, clearly expecting a reasonable explanation. He was disappointed.

"We've got no bloody clue," they said together.

"How about your best guest then," the senior agent sighed.

"It seems we're not only dealing with some type of sound depression device, but also a cloaking device. Not that _that_ technology is even fully developed. The panels on the heli-carrier are the highest level that we know of and they're reflection panels. If you look hard enough you can still see the distortion. This is, well, freaky," Fitz bravely offered.

"That explains why nothing is showing on the satellites," May said. "Whatever they've got in that tent disrupts electronic signals. Do you guys have the laser mic going yet?"

"Yeah," Skye answered, "You guys should be hearing it already."

Fitz went over and fiddled with his tablet. "We're getting no feed from the laser. Try resetting it."

Skye raised her eyebrows and sent Ward a question look. He sent her a wry grin, then reached over, turned the mic off and back on again. "Resetting now," he confirmed. Skye had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing.

"Hmm, no. Still not getting anything. Turn your comms off and use the mic," Fitz dictated.

The snappy salute Ward made in the general direction of the bus had Skye's laughter bursting out. The scientists, "What's so funny," got lost as the two killed their comms.

"Can you hear me now," Skye whispered into the mic after controlling her giggles. She looked at Ward in time to watch the man push his face into his arm to stifle his own mirth.

Totally oblivious to the merriment he was causing, Fitz spoke again, "Nope. Not a mic problem. Whatever is in that tent is causing this. Okay, turn your comms back on and bring the equipment back with you."

"Yes, sir," Ward snarked after turning off the mic again. "Well, you heard the man," he said to Skye. "Let's pack up and move out."

Skye pulled her comm out. "Is it okay if I use the one in the helmet for the ride back? This one tended to hum with the engine."

"Yeah, I noticed that. Here, I'll put them in this pouch and we'll both use the helmet links," Ward agreed reaching out for Skye's.

Stretching to give Ward her comm, Skye, forgetting everything she'd just learned, stood up.

"Skye, no," Ward hissed but whatever else he was going to say was lost as he pushed her back, lost his footing and slipped over the edge of the ridge.

Skye could only watch in horror as her S.O. tumbled the fifteen feet to the bottom. Scrambling to get the equipment bag, she frantically made her way down to the fallen man.

"Ward, Ward! Please tell me you're okay," she pleaded. As she reached him, she was relieved to find him still conscious but unmoving. Kneeling beside him, she did a quick scan of his body for visible injuries. Finding none, she turned her attention back to his face. "Hold still. I don't see any broken bones, but we can't be sure."

Ward blinked a couple of times at the sound of her voice, trying to bring her wavering profile into focus. "I don't think anythings broken, but I might have a concussion. Right now you look like you're shimmering," he slurred out closing his eyes, swallowing against the sudden nausea he was experiencing.

"Ward!" Skye hissed. Receiving no response, she tapped his cheek. "Grant, you need to stay awake. I'm going to radio in. Get us some help." Reaching up to click her ear piece, she found nothing. "Right, Ward had them in his hand when he fell. There's no way I'm gonna find them. They could be anywhere by now."

"You always talk to yourself in a crisis?" Ward asked her or at least he tried to. It came out more like sounds than actual words.

Skye's sigh was profound. "Good, you're still with me."

"Did I go somewhere?" he asked, scrunching up his face, trying to make sense of everything.

"No, you fell. I'm gonna set up the mic. See if we can reach the team. You just keep still and keep awake," she told him. When he didn't answer right away, she shook his shoulder. "Ward you hear me!" she said harshly.

"Yeah, yeah. Stay still, stay awake. Got it," he managed to get out.

If he was compos mentis, the specialist would have felt a moment of pride at how efficiently his trainee was dealing with their situation. She set up the mic and calibrated it like a pro. She wasn't freaking out (at least not visibly).

"Anyone hear me," she whispered into the mic, not wanting to blow eardrums out if the volume got messed with.

"We're here, Skye. What happened? You guys cut out and we've been trying to reach you."

Hearing Coulson voice was a balm to her frayed nerves. "We've got a problem. Ward fell. He says nothings broken, but he hit his head really hard," she told her boss.

"Is he mobile?" Coulson asked.

"I'm not sure."

Coulson turned to Simmons. "You're going to have to walk her through how to check him over."

Simmons nodded. "Okay, Skye, is there any blood visible?"

"Yes. He's got a good cut on the left side of his head, just above his ear."

"Okay. Do you have Ward's or your pack? There should be some rudimentary first aide supplies in them."

Skye pulled her pack off her shoulders to set it on the ground. "I have mine. Ward is kinda lying on top of his."

"Don't move him to get to it, at least not until we assay him," Simmons directed calmly. "Now try to clean the wound enough to see how bad it is. Remember, head wounds bleed more so than any others."

Skye did as told. She uncover a two inch gash that had almost stopped bleeding. After relaying the info and getting further instructions, she gently cleaned the area with an antiseptic wipe which caused Ward to give her his best pissed off look but the injured man didn't say anything, letting her attend to him. She managed to get a gauze pad and a wrap around his head to hold the pad in place without too much trouble.

Completing the first task, she spoke to the mic again, "Okay that's done, what's next?"

Simmons walked her through the process of checking for broken bones. Everything was going great until she reached Ward's rib cage. The slight pressure of her hands caused him to arch his back off the ground and let out a guttural moan which transmitted clearly back to the anxious team.

"Skye, what happen?" Simmons asked worriedly.

"I think he's got some broken ribs," the younger girl replied. "I touched them the same way as I did his arms and legs and he nearly came unglued."

"He's right here," Ward groaned.

"Good, he's still conscious. Do you think you can get back to the bus?" Coulson jumped in.

Before Skye could respond, Ward did, "We can make it back, Sir, but it won't do us any good. I can't drive it. I'm kinda seeing double right now."

"I can," Skye stated looking at him. "What's with the look? I can't tell if it's surprise or the concussion."

"You can drive a motorcycle?" he questioned in disbelief.

"Yeah, I may've had an illicit boyfriend in junior high school who secretly taught me to ride," Skye admitted with a tad of guilt shadowing her tone.

"Okay, turn your comms on and make your way to the bike. Keep in constant contact," Coulson ordered.

"Uh, that may not be possible," Skye timidly offered. "See, the comms were in Ward's hand when he fell. I can't find them."

Coulson rubbed his forehead wondering how this could go anymore wrong. "All right, let us know when you reach the bike. I'm assuming the comms in the helmets are still working."

Skye had the good sense to answer with just a, "Yes, Sir."

What should have taken ten minutes took closer to forty. Skye and Ward lurched their way to their transportation, stopping every few feet for the concussed man to try and get his bearings and for Skye to readjust her hold around his waist. Even though she was in shape, the man was heavy and his uneven gait didn't help the matter.

Back at the bus, everyone was on pins and needles, waiting for their wayward teammates to check in. Everyone that is except for Charlotte, who was currently in the lounge, blissfully ignorant of her father's condition, playing with her dolls. They breathed a collective sigh when the click of comms indicated the duo had made it to their destination.

"We're here," Skye divulged. "Um, is it okay that Ward is currently on his hands and knees puking his guts out?"

Simmons immediately answered, "It's not ideal, but nausea is a side effect of a concussion. If you have any water, get him to take small sips when he's finished. The dry heaves could cause serious problems with his broken ribs."

"Got it," she managed to get out while keeping her sympathetic gag reflex in check.

When it looked like he was finally done, Skye handed him some wet wipes and the water from the pack then turned away to give him some privacy.

"Skye, I think I'm going to need some help getting up," the specialists admitted reluctantly.

Skye rushed to his side. Getting him up this time wasn't any easier than the first time, but they managed and made it over to bike where she helped him swing his leg over and sit down. Skye held the full-face-mask helmet in her hand, swinging her eyes between it, Ward and the spot where he'd lost his stomach contents. She quickly ascertained that it would be unwise to have Ward put his helmet on. Instead, she secured it to the back of the bike along with the equipment and both backpacks. Surprised that her S.O. didn't comment on her actions, she focused in on him to find that he was too busy trying to breath without inhaling to say anything.

"You gonna make it?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, just give me a sec," he replied.

"Are you going to be able to hold on?" she voiced her other concern.

Ward nodded, "As long as you don't go too fast, I should be good."

Skye climbed on, trying not to jostle him too much, grabbed the second helmet from where it was hanging on the handle bars, plugged in the comm line and started the bike. She took a moment to offer silent thanks to the inventor of the electric start; kicking starting the bike would have been difficult.

"Okay, we're ready. Ward doesn't have a helmet. I really don't want to know how hard it is to throw up with a face mask," she informed the team.

"Good. Follow the same path back. We'll keep tabs on your progress through the GPS. Take it nice and easy and try not to jar Ward too much. We don't need a rib puncturing a lung," Simmons told her.

"Copy that. Okay, boss. Let's get this show on the road." With that, Skye carefully released the clutch and they were on their way.

The ride back took twice as long. Though he tried his best to hide it, Skye knew her S.O. was in a lot of pain and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't miss every bump in their path. When she finally had a visual on the plane, she almost wept with joy. Ward's grip around her waist had tightened to the point of painful but she bit her lip and didn't say anything, knowing what he was dealing with was much worse.

Fitz/Simmons had a makeshift hospital bed set up on one of the lab tables with the portable x-ray machine and oxygen tank at ready. Aishani sat with Charlotte on her lap in the cargo hold, distracting the child with a storybook. Coulson and May waited at the end of the cargo bay for the riders to pull up. They were on either side of the cycle before Skye could turn off the engine.

They managed to get Ward standing and a couple of steps up the ramp before he lost his battle with consciousness. His dead weight nearly toppled the other agents, before they regained their balance. Fitz/Simmons rushed out to help them. With a person at each appendage, they carried their teammate to the waiting bed where Simmons immediately put the oxygen mask on him and Fitz cut off his shirts so they could x-ray his rib cage.

Simmons grabbed the stethoscope. "Fitz, he sounds too breathy. I'm going to take a listen." The minute she reached his left side, she frowned. "There's diminished lung capacity on this side. He might have a punctured lung after all. Let's get that x-ray quickly."

The rest of the team waited outside the doors, wanting to stay out of the way and to keep the lab as sterile as possible. They watched in concern as Fitz/Simmons worked on Ward, I.V.'s, oxygen, x-rays and then to their horror, a chest tube.

"See. I told you she'd get him hurt."

The child's voice startled everyone. She'd been so quiet up to this point that all of adults had forgotten she was there.

She turned to Skye. "This is your fault, isn't it," not really asking.

Skye hunkered down next to the little girl. "Yeah, it is. I'm so, so sorry."

Charlotte patted the woman's shoulder. "You only need to be sorry if he dies." The child turned her attention back to the room where her father was being worked on. The other adult's didn't know how to react to what the kid had said.

"Charlotte, don't you think that was a little harsh? I'm sure it was an accident. You should apologize to Skye," Aishani finally said.

"Daddy says you should never apologize unless you really mean it and I don't," the child responded, not taking her eyes off her dad.

"It's okay, Aishani, I deserve it. I made a stupid move that could have got us spotted and Ward fell over the edge when he went to grab me," Skye explained.

Ward finally stabilized, Fitz opened the doors to let the team in. Charlotte immediately pushed a stool next to his bed and took hold of his hand that didn't have I.V's in it. She put her head down next to his and began whispering in his ear. No one had the heart to pull her away.

"How is he," Coulson asked.

Simmons wiped her brow. "He's stable. He's got a grade 2 concussion, three broken ribs and two fractured. One rib nicked his lung, but I believe his lung collapsed from the blunt force trauma of the fall. The chest tube is draining the fluid effectively There's no sign of bleeding or swelling on the brain, so that's good. With plenty of rest, he should be fine."

"Good. That's good. Simmons you stay here to monitor him. You can keep Charlotte with you as it appears it would take an impossible force to move her. The rest of you in the command center in twenty," Coulson ordered.

"Sir?" Skye went to question.

Coulson gave her a less than patient look. "We've still got a mission to do. We need to regroup and come up with a different plan."

May's hand on her arm kept Skye from arguing. "He's in good hands and we have a mission."


	7. Chapter 7

Skye took advantage of the time to grab a shower and clean up hoping it would bolster her confidence. It didn't. Charlotte's accusation had hurt, except that it hadn't been an accusation. The little girl had made a statement of fact which made it worse, like it was inevitable that Skye's inexperience would get Ward injured. Maybe she wasn't meant to be a field agent. Maybe she could get a job at the HUB where she could use her computer skills.

Skye shook her head. Who was she fooling? The only reason she'd been able to remain with S.H.I.E.L.D. after her first discretion was Coulson saw potential or at least he's said as much. Now she was fairly sure that was going to fly out the window. She'd be benched for the rest of this mission and once Ward was better, probably kicked off the team.

Her dark thoughts were interrupted by a knock. Pulling back the door, she was surprised to see Agent May. There wasn't much room in the bunks, but the two squished in and May shut the door.

"You need to stop blaming yourself," May directed flatly.

"I.." Skye trailed off.

"You made a mistake. It was your first time in the situation. Learn from it and move on," May insisted.

"How can I? Ward's down there with a tube sticking out of his chest because of me. How am I suppose to let it go?" Skye cried.

May shrugged. "It's a part of the job. Mistakes are made. Agents get hurt. Sometimes they die. We do the job and move on."

"That's pretty callous," Skye said, starting to get irritated.

"We all know what we've signed up for. Ward's no different."

"He didn't really trust me before and now this," Skye said.

May looked at her for a minute. "So prove him wrong. You can't do that wallowing is self pity."

Skye took a deep breath. "You're right. Thank you, Agent May." She walked out of her bunk in front of the older woman so she missed the small satisfied smile that briefly graced her face.

A subdued group of five assembled around the tech table, Simmons was still in the lab monitoring her patient. Coulson looked to the two youngest members of the team. "Everyone's worried about Agent Ward, but we still have a mission to complete. Here's what's going to happen. Aishani assures me nothing has changed from her last insight, so we're going forward. May, you and Skye are going to be our distractions. Skye, you need to keep your mouth shut, let May do all the talking since you don't know Arabic. Fitz, you and I will get into the main tent and see what in the hell we're dealing with. Aishani, you can monitor our progress either from here or in the lab. Simmons can assist while she takes care of Ward. We'll hike in as we've risked enough exposure today. Get your packs ready and get some sleep, we're leaving at one a.m. Any questions?"

"How are May and I going to just walk into the camp? Don't you think our clothing will raise suspicions?" Skye asked.

"You'll be wearing burkas. May'll show the costume room and how to put it on," he answered. "Any other questions?" He paused for a moment, "Good! Let's get ready."

Coulson steps quietly into the lab. Jemma looks up from her tablet to greet him with a soft smile. "How's he doing?" he whispers so as not to wake the sleeping child sitting next to her father.

She sighs. "His oxygen levels are low, his breathing is extremely labored and he has a slight temp. He hasn't woken up yet."

"You don't have him sedated?" he asks surprised.

"No. I don't want to do that because of the concussion, but if he doesn't ease soon, we may have ventilate him," Simmons answers.

It's with that sentence that Coulson notices just how irregular Ward's breathing is. "How much longer are you going to wait?"

"I set a thirty minute deadline. That was fifteen minutes ago."

"We can't call off the mission, Jemma."

"I know, Sir. I believe we have enough on board to take care of him for now." Glancing at her watch she notes the time again. "I'm going to call Fitz down. I have some prep to do to intubate and I'll need his help with the procedure."

"So it's a foregone conclusion," he states.

Jemma sighs again, "Yes, Sir."

"I'll take Charlotte upstairs with me. No child should have to watch a parent get a tube shoved down his throat. I'll send Fitz down."

"Thank you, Sir."

Coulson gathered Charlotte in his arms. She complained a little, but he calmed her with a few quiet words. Simmons set about getting her equipment ready. As he reached the top of the stairs, Aishani met him to take the slumbering child from him. He couldn't meet her questioning eyes, yet the message was clear. She took her charge to Ward's room and Coulson comm linked Fitz, letting the young scientist know his assistance was needed in the lab.

Phil sank down into one of the many comfortable couches and closed his eyes. It never gets any easier. The Oracle joined him after a moment, keeping the silence.

"Fitz/Simmons are putting him on a ventilator," the agent mutter.

"Does Charlotte know?"

"No. She was already asleep when I got down there."

"Ward's tough. His lungs need time to heal is all."

"Yeah."

"Let me get you something to eat and then you go take a nap. It's going to be a long night," Aishani stated. Phil didn't acknowledge her as she got up to do as she said.

The Oracle took her time preparing food for the everyone on the plane. She made a tuna salad, laid out the bread, cheese and the sandwich press so that everyone could assemble a sandwich when they were ready. She pulled together a quick tomato soup that she could leave on low so it would be hot no matter when someone wandered in. With a hot sandwich and bowl of soup on a tray, she rejoined the senior agent on the couch, slightly nudging him to get his attention.

"Here, eat," she directed.

Coulson muttered, "Thanks," as he reached for the sandwich, dunking it in the soup before bringing it to his mouth.

"I see some things never change," Aishani chuckled. Phil gave her a slightly embarrassed grin, "Nope."

The plane's com clicked at that moment. "Agent Coulson, Agent May we need your assistance in the lab immediately," Fitz's voice sounded panicked. Both members went running with Skye and Aishani on their heels.

The two senior agents raced into the lab to find their scientists struggling to keep a thrashing Ward from falling off the table as he fought the ventilator and them. Only the Oracle's hand on her arm prevented Skye from following them in. "We'd only be in the way," she told the younger woman.

The two watched in stunned silence as May and Coulson held Ward down allowing Simmons to inject a clear liquid into his I.V. It was apparent when the drug started to take effect as Ward's movements slowed. When they didn't completely stop, a few quick nods were exchanged and May disappeared into the back of the lab only to reappear with a handful of straps. Skye made a disgruntled noise as she watched her S.O. being strapped down to the table. If the Oracle hadn't still been touching her she would have barged into the lab, yelling out all the words clogging her throat.

When Ward was no longer in danger of falling, Aishani stepped into the room with Skye in tow. "If he's stable now, you all go up, eat then get some rest. Simmons if you'll tell me how to interrupt the readings, I'll sit with him while you eat," the Oracle ordered. All of them realizing arguments would not be tolerated, they complied. Watching to make sure they didn't try to rebel, she sat down on the stool previously occupied by his daughter and stroked the patient's arm. "Ward, you have to quit scarring these people. You need to remember that three of them aren't true field agents and need to be eased into this kind of shit. Besides, I'm almost positive Simmons' list of monikers doesn't include M.D.," she whispered into his ear.

They were sitting, lost in their individual thoughts when a child's voice broke the silence, "Where's Aunt Aishani?"

Jemma jumped up to take the child's hand. "She's sitting with your daddy while I get some food."

"I want to see my daddy," Charlotte requested.

"How bout we get you a late lunch and then I'll take you down with me to see your dad," Simmons suggested.

Charlotte screwed up her face in thought. "What's for lunch?" Upon learning it was tuna, she readily agreed to a sandwich and soup for dipping on the condition they went immediately down to her dad when they were finished.

Letting the girl finish her meal, Skye moved to her side. "Sweety, there's something you need to know about your dad before you go see him."

"Skye," May cautioned.

"What?! She needs to be told," Skye hissed, exasperated.

"Do you think you're the right person to be telling her?" May asked ignoring Skye's tone.

"Charlotte, your daddy's lungs aren't working correctly so he needs a little help breathing," Simmons jumped in hoping to prevent an argument. "I had to put a tube in his mouth so air could be pushed in."

Charlotte considered Simmons' pronouncement. "Bet he didn't like that very much," she stated.

Simmons chuckled despite the seriousness of the conversation. "No, he did not. In fact, he put up a bit of a fight, trying to get out of bed."

"Did you tuck him in tight so he couldn't wiggle? That's what he does to me when I won't stay in bed," Charlotte said with a smile.

"Why yes, yes we did. How did you know?" Jemma asked.

"I'm five," the child stated as if it was the answer to everything.

Over the top of the small head, Simmons and Fitz had a silent conversation. Fitz left quickly to make it to the lab before Charlotte.

Jemma and Charlotte made their way down the stairs to the lab slowly, trying to give Fitz as much time as possible. Simmons smiled in relief. Ward was covered neck to foot in a couple of blankets that reached the floor. Charlotte grinned up at her, "At least he's not cold. The tube looks like his scuba gear."

Simmons, extremely grateful for the innocence of children, smiled in agreement.

While the trio of females watched over the downed agent, the remaining team did as they'd been told. They finished their meals, tidied the kitchen and headed for their bunks. Coulson updated HQ before hitting the rack.


	8. Chapter 8

Coulson, May, Fitz and Skye gathered at the end of the cargo bay ramp, ready to head out into the night. They'd caught a few hours of sleep and were ready to get going. Skye had been the only one to go into the lab to check on Ward. She only stayed long enough to find out his condition hadn't changed. To her, this mission was for him.

Coulson's, "Let's roll," caught her attention.

They made good time despite the low light levels. It did help that three of the four had already been over the area before. Stopping at their pre chosen rendezvous point, May and Skye quickly donned their Muslim disguises, taking care to make sure everything was correct. After all, it's one thing to use a culture's traditions as a ruse, but it's an entirely other thing to be disrespectful of the culture.

The women moved into their position and waited for for Coulson and Fitz to make their way to the right side of the encampment, opposite of the kitchen and holding tent. The plan was for Fitz to send one of the dwarves in to the big tent to get a picture of what they were dealing with. Skye and May would create their diversion depending upon the findings of the dwarf. It was hurry up and wait.

"We're in position, sending in reconnaissance now," Coulson voice came over the comms. Soon, Fitz had the dwarf, Bashful, hovering over the tent, searching for a way to sneak in. A minute or so of circling found a gap between the tents top cover and side wall. Bashful buzzed to the opening. The second it crossed the flap, all visual and audio transmission stopped.

"What the hell!" exclaimed Fitz as his screen went dead. "Simmons, are you getting anything?"

"Just fuzz. Is the drone offline?" Simmons responded.

"No," Fitz stated, "it's not offline. I still have flight control, but no readings."

Coulson sighed, "I expected this. Whatever is in that tent interferes with all electronic signals. We're going to have to go in. Call the dwarf back, Fitz. May, you and Skye move into position, but don't act until my signal. The camp is quiet. Hopefully we can get in and out without disturbing anyone or needing a distraction. Fitz, leave all but the scanning equipment here. We need to move unencumbered." "We'll pick it up on our way out," he added after looking at the young man's face.

The pair waited long enough for Bashful to return before making their way to the edge of the compound. Either their targets were extremely stupid or extremely over confident, as the two agent ran into no resistance, quickly making it to the main tent.

Ducking under the tent flap, Fitz couldn't help the stunned, "My God, Simmons, are you seeing this?" There was no reply. Their communications were cut off. Coulson indicated he would stay on the outside and relay Fitz's findings to base.

The device was a six foot tall cylinder, sitting in the middle of the unoccupied tent, surrounded by tables which were groaning under the weight of computer equipment. Each computer had a single cable linking it to the cylinder. The cylinder itself had three screens of it's own, plus a few open ports. The top quarter was separated from the main part by a clear plexiglass looking substance. When Fitz maneuvered closer, he could see an orange glow emitting from within the device. He pulled out his scanner, moving it over the contours of the device. The scanner appeared to be recording the readings, but he wasn't sure.

"Sir, ask Simmons if she is getting the readings?" Fitz asked.

"That's a negative," Coulson relayed.

"I'm going to finish the scan anyway, just in case," Fitz declared. Unwillingly, he took out a pen and paper to make a rough sketch of the device, sneering lightly at the antiquated devices in his hands.

"Do it quickly. I don't want to push our luck," Coulson directed.

Frowning at being rushed, the scientist complied and was soon walking out of the tent. "We're on our way out. Skye, May, meet us at the rendezvous point," Coulson ordered.

"Affirmative."

The instant Fitz's equipment cleared the confines of the tent, all of his scan readings started transmitting to their mainframe.

Simmons couldn't stop the excited squeal she emitted when the computer screen lit up with the findings. "I know you're on the move, but the readings are coming in already. The device is made of an unidentified metal composite. I'll set it for further analysis. There's a portion that has some of the same components of plexiglass, but it's tensile strength has been modified to withstand far more pressure. The device is emitting waves of electromagnetic particles bearing similarities to Chitauri weapons, but with modifications," she informed the team.

"We're moments away from the rendezvous. We'll double time it back. We're going to need some help," Coulson stated.

Back on the plane, Simmons set up the system to make a back up copy of their findings and started running programs to try to identify the components of the casing. Programs operating, she turned to the oracle. The woman was sitting exactly in the middle between Ward's bed and the mounted computer monitor and had been quiet the entire time.

Charlotte had long been sent to bed, despite the child's vehement protests. She didn't want to leave her father's side especially after she discovered he was being restrained. No matter her arguments, she couldn't convince the two adults that she would be able to keep her daddy still if she read to him. They let her stay until she fell asleep with her head on Grant's shoulder.

Jemma checked the readings. "The rescue breaths are coming farther apart and he's not fighting it any more. I think we can safely remove the bindings now. Would you like to help?"

Aishani rose from her perch and reached for the nearest buckle. Carefully avoiding all the tubes and wires they made quick work undoing the restraints. The Oracle brushed her fingers over the spots on Ward's body where the straps had rubbed his skin raw during his struggles.

"I have some salve to treat those burns," Simmons whispered. Walking over to her supplies, she picked up a small jar and brought it back to hand to the older woman. "About a pea size dollop for each spot. It takes away the burning feeling and promotes healing." She watched briefly as her companion gently rubbed the salve in, then turned to look at Ward's stats again. "We should be able to remove the vent in a couple of hours if he keeps improving."

"That's good," Aishani replied, not looking at the young woman. "Ward's not one for being incapacitated for long periods of time."

As if on cue, their topic of conversation grunted and opened his eyes, his untethered hand immediately reaching for the tube coming from his mouth. Simmons grabbed his hand, bringing it back down to his side. "It's a ventilator, Grant. Don't fight it. You still need help breathing."

He blinked at her a couple times, obviously fighting to keep his eyes open. Aishani moved into view. "Charlotte's safely sleeping upstairs, it's the middle of the night."

At her reassurance, Ward gave up his fight, letting his eyes close again to fall into a restful sleep. Simmons couldn't help making soothing circular strokes on his shoulder. The scientist genuinely liked the specialist and it disturbed her to see the active man so still. Not for the first time since she'd stepped on the bus, she wondered if she'd made the right decision in moving out into fieldwork. All maudlin thoughts were shoved aside as she went back to reviewing the data from the scout team.

Despite the rests they'd taken before tonight's escapades, the four agents were tired, wearily making their way back to base. It was suppose to be a retrieval tonight instead of another fact finding mission. They were all secretly disappointed, their lack of progress and Ward's condition shadowing their moods. It was a weary group that made their way up the cargo hold ramp onto the plane.

Coulson looked over his tired team. "Everyone get some rest. I'm going to update HQ, get us some help." His tone broke no argument, they dispersed as told.

Phil waited for the others to make their way upstairs before he went into the lab. He took in the exhausted demeanor of Simmons and Aishani. "How's Ward?" he asked quietly.

Jemma looked up from her studies and glanced at her patient. "He's holding his own. I'm hoping to remove the vent in the morning."

"Anything new from the data?" the senior agent wanted to know.

"It's definitely alien in nature. The initial readings said Chitauri but further analysis is bringing up unknown components. It appears to be an energy source like the Tesarac but with built in interference capabilities. Like beta blockers. The curious thing is that it prevented immediate transmissions, but still allowed for the readings and transmission outside its area of effect." Simmons informed him.

Coulson sighed, "I'll send everything to HQ. Maybe they can help us out. Do you need to rest? I can help Aishani monitor Ward while you get some sleep."

Jemma was going to protest the obvious dismissal but changed her mind when she caught the look on the Oracle's face.

"Right. I'll catch a few winks and be down in a few hours then. Call me if there's an emergency," the young scientist said before checking her patient's stats again and heading up to her bunk.

Phil stood a moment at Ward's side, startling a little when the ventilator gave a rescue breath.

"They're getting less. He's breathing mostly on his own," the Oracle whispered.

Phil looked up with a resigned look. "It never gets easier."

"No it doesn't," she responded unnecessarily.

"I'd better update headquarters," he stated.

Putting her hand on his shoulder, Aishani guided him towards the doors. "I'll do it. You go get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a very busy day."

Studying the look in the Oracle's eye, Phil nodded his understanding. He slowly trudged his way towards his own bunk. The last thing he heard before collapsing on his bed Aishani's voice over the secured line he monitored in his room, "Sandbox, this is S.H.I.E.L.D. six four six. Transmitting data from what now is classified as an oh, eight, four."

The agents on the plane, despite everyone's late night. woke early. There was so much that needed to be done. Jemma immediately checked on her patient to find him awake and alert. He and the Oracle seemed to be having an argument using only facile expressions.

"Am I interrupting something important?" she asked, checking the readouts from the machines behind Ward's head.

"I was just telling Grant that he'd have to wait for you to remove the ventilator if he didn't want his entire throat ripped out with it. He was trying to convince me he was okay with that," Aishani replied.

Jemma couldn't help the exasperated sighed that escaped from her. Looking Ward directly in the eye, she spoke using her best Ward imitation, "I'm Agent Grant Ward and I can function at optimal level even if I don't have a throat."

Grant rolled his eyes, Aishani chuckled and Jemma continued, "All right let's get this thing out of you. You haven't needed a rescue breath in several hours."

The Oracle glanced briefly between the two of them before deciding, "I'll go get Charlotte ready for day and some breakfast then I'll bring her down to see you."

A blind man could've saw the gratitude in Ward's eyes.

Upstairs, the rest of the team was moving around, getting ready for the day. Charlotte was curled up on Coulson's lap, rubbing sleep from her eyes. When she spotted Aishani, she demanded to see her father. Telling her he wasn't quite ready for visitors this morning, Aishani assured her they'd go down after breakfast. Somewhat mollified, the little girl ran to get dressed.

Coulson looked around the group. "HQ is sending help. They should be here in about two hours. We're going straight in under S.H.I.E.L.D. protocol eighty-seven and international authorization fifty-six. If they refuse to tell us what they're working on, we'll seize the object under statue one-oh-three since the item has definite alien characteristics. Fitz, you'll lead the retrieval to ensure the safety and stability of the item. Skye, I want you monitoring all communications and seeing if we can break their shroud of silence. There has to be a reason for all those computers hooked up to the main unit. If we can get any access, it will help. May, with Ward down, I want you on the bus, just in case. Aishani, it would be nice if we knew what we're getting into. I'll take Charlotte down to her father if you'd try to get anything."

"What about her earlier predictions?" Skye blurted out before she could control her brain to mouth filter.

The Oracle stared at the younger woman with amusement. "Skye, the future is fluid. An individual action can change an event. I'm certain it was suppose to be Grant there last night, but since he wasn't, the events changed."

Skye looked guilty at the mention of Ward's lack of participation, but recovered quickly. "So, like the butterfly effect then."

"More like free will," Coulson answered.

"Skye, I need to have some room to breath. Why don't you join me?" the Oracle invited.

Skye readily agreed. Soon everyone was busy getting ready for the mission. Aishani and Skye passed by the lab on their way out of the plane. They paused long enough to watch Charlotte feed her father ice chips.

The two women took refuge in the shade of one of the wings, sitting in lawn chairs with bottles of water in their hands. Skye watched the oracle sigh, close her eyes and sink into the chair. All was quiet for a moment, then the older woman began to speak. Skye turned on the recorder to catch every word. Thirty minutes later, they went inside to brief the team.

They were met by everyone in the cargo hold, just outside the lab doors. Charlotte maintained her vigil, sitting as close to her dad as she could without disturbing the sleeping man. Simmons kept half her attention focused on the pair while listening to the briefing.

"It's very hard to tell. HQ is stupidly bringing too many agents that I know. I can see very little. We'll meet resistance, but the target doesn't have a huge armament. They are either over confident in their hiding abilities or they are extremely naive. All I can say for certain is this is not going to be a cake walk," Aishani informed the team.

"Back up is going to be here within the hour," Coulson updated them. "A team was pulled from their current mission to give us a hand, this being of higher priority. Let's make sure we're ready. We'll go in by cars. We're not going for stealth this time. All right, everyone. Let's get ready."

For security reasons, all action on the plane would be centralized in the lab. The plan also allowed for Simmons to assist Skye and May while still monitoring Ward. Aishani would keep Charlotte busy upstairs while continuing to try to hear what was going to happen.


	9. Chapter 9

It wasn't long before another S.H.I.E.L.D. plane taxied to a stop next to the one already on the the ground. Not as impressive as the bus, mind you, but it was for transport only, not to live on. Six agents disembarked and quickly walked up the ramp to be greeted by Coulson and the team.

"Agent Coulson, good to see you again," the oldest man of the group said.

"Agent Marx, thank you for coming so quickly. Let's get you up to date and get this show on the road," Coulson responded.

Quick introductions were made; quick as in last names only: Marx, Dodger, Bixby, Gray, Dixon and Manetti. Coulson, May and Aishani seemed to know most of the new team so assignments were easily parsed out and everyone quickly executed their tasks.

The new plane had the benefit of carrying an extra SUV and a truck. Fitz and Coulson would ride with Agent Marx and his second-in-command, Agent Dodger. The other three agents would take the SUV and the remaining agent, Bixby would stay behind to help with the communications. Locked and loaded, they set out for the target.

Stealth no longer an issue, the group made it in half the time it took on the previous visits. Since Agent Marx spoke Arabic, he'd been designated the lead with Coulson as back up. Pulling to with in fifty feet of the outside tent, the team got out of their vehicles and waited to see if they'd be greeted. When no on appeared, they proceed into the heart of the encampment, side arms ready, but not out of holsters. They were just coming to what had been determined as the HQ tent went the met their first person from the camp.

"I'm Agent Marx with S.H.I.E.L.D. We're hear to uncover what you are working on and determine threat potential. Please direct us to those in charge."

Rather than doing as asked, the man let out a loud noise that Fitz would later decided sounded much like a screaming goat. Seconds later, the team was surrounded by men from the camp, but not a one of them was carrying a weapon. One man stepped away forward from the circle. "I'm Mateen Salib. What is the meaning of this?"

"I'm Agent Marx with S.H.I.E.L.D. Are you in charge of this encampment?"

"I am. Why is the grand organization that is S.H.I.E.L.D humbling themselves to visit our little experiment station?" Salib asked, sarcasm dripping in his tone.

Marx cleared his throat, "We've detected some anomalies with electronic transmissions in this area."

Salib was shaking his head before Marx finished speaking, "We are but a simple research site, studying the weather patterns in the surrounding area."

"Then you won't mind if we have a look at your research area," Marx insisted.

"But of course, right this way," Salib said glibly, motioning towards the tent in the center of the camp.

"I don't like this. It's a bit too easy," Coulson whispered to Marx. The other man gave him an almost imperceptible nod of agreement.

Aishani made Charlotte go upstairs despite the child's protests. She didn't want to leave her father even if Jemma promised to take care of him. The only reason she didn't throw a tantrum was because she didn't want to wake her dad.

Managing to distract the concern daughter with crayons and color books, Aishani sat down to try to connect with the away team.

Charlotte spoke, clearly agitated, "Daddy's going to fall. Aunt Aishani, Daddy's going to fall."

The Oracle looked at the girl in bewilderment. "Charlotte, what do you mean? Your daddy's safe on his bed."

"No, no he's not. He's going to fall after we have to take off fast," she insisted, shaking her head. Then it hit Aishani and she was running towards the stairs, yelling.

"Pull them out! Pull them out! Now! Abort!"

May looked up at the commotion of the Oracle running down the stairs and advancing on the doors. She caught the "Abort!" and the look of pure terror on the other woman's face. She hit the comm link, "Coulson! Get the team out now! Abort! I repeat! Abort! The mission has gone bad!"

The small contingent was just about to step into the main tent when May's message came over their comms. Not wasting a second to question the orders, the team turned to run. They found themselves surrounded by what was probably the whole population of the camp. Pulling their weapons, the team prepared to shoot their way out, but found instead the group parting in front of them in fear. As one, they started to run towards their vehicles. Agent Dodger took the rear. They were to the outer ring when a camp inhabitant grabbed Dodger's arm. He reacted on instinct, turning and firing his weapon towards the ground to warn the combatant.

The time between the gun's discharge and the small tremble that went through the ground was less than a nano second. The tremble was barely noticeable by the team, causing only Fitz to lose his footing slightly as he kept running.

Bixby and Simmons were watching the monitors intently. May recognized the sound of the gun shot, but didn't have time to process as Bixby and Simmons started talking at once about the changes on the monitors.

"What was that?" Simmons asked, doubting her eyes.

"It looked to be an earthquake," Bixby replied, punching in some code on the computer. Another wave followed within a minute of the first. "The epicenter appears to be the main tent of the compound."

May hit the comms again, "Coulson, you need to get out of there! The weapon discharged has caused an earthquake."

"Say again," came the response.

Before May could answer, Simmons responded for her, "Sir, the device is creating a wormhole. Not quite on the scale of the Tesarac but similar characteristics. You need to get back to the plane immediately."

Not bothering to say where she was going, May ran for the cockpit. Aishani took command of the lab. "Simmons and Skye, strap Ward down again. If we have to take off in a hurry, there's nothing to keep him on that bed. Charlotte, you go with Bixby and get strapped into a jump seat. Skye, Simmons, you follow as soon as you're finished."

The next tremble was felt as the plane shifted. The roar of the engines covered the scared squeaks from Simmons. The Oracle walked to the control panel of the cargo bay door and waited.


	10. Chapter 10

The field team made it to their vehicles before the second shockwave. Men from the camp were running after them. They piled everyone the could into the two trucks, but there just wasn't enough room. As the ground rolled under them, Coulson and Marx ordered the drivers to take off. The remaining members of the camp ran as fast as they could but soon fell behind.

"Coulson, what's your status?" May demanded.

"We're fifteen minutes out," he stated.

Simmons studied the monitors as she held the straps in place for Skye. "You'd better push it harder, Sir, the tremors are getting exponentially bigger."

Coulson's voice was calm as he replied, "You forget, Jemma. I was at the first wormhole collapse." No one responded as they each took his statement to mean something different.

May had the plane hovering as the team came into sight. Aishani coughed as the cloud of dust filled the hold when the two trucks came to an abrupt halt. She held her hand over the button, waiting for the last person to get on board. Four team members boarded first, weapons drawn, keeping the men from the camp between them and the other three members With only Coulson, Dodger and Marx left, a stronger wave hit, knocking all three off their feet.

"We need to get out of here," May's exclaimed. "Tell me it's clear."

"It's clear," the Oracle confirmed, watching the three men scramble over the ledge as she pushed the red button.

"Everyone sit down! It's the safest," Marx shouted in Arabic. The S.H.I.E.L.D. members braced themselves as best they could without letting down their guard. Whatever the hell was going on, the group of men between them had caused it. Coulson handed Aishani his back up piece. If expressions could kill, Phil would have died again. Luckily for him, they can't. Aishani clicked the safety off.

None of them would see the blue light emanating from the center of the camp, but they could see the ground give way on the monitors as the engines pushed the big plane upwards then forward away from the epicenter.

Marx side glanced at Coulson. "Fury is going to have my hide for losing that plane."

Coulson smiled, "Better you than me again."

When they were finally airborne, their 'guests' were escorted to the cage. They weren't a chatty group. As the plane didn't have the accommodations to deal with so many prisoners, Marx and Coulson decided it was best to let the interrogators at the 'Fridge' do their thing.

When their 'guests' were secure, Aishani cornered Coulson down one of the planes many passages. Handing his gun back to him, she looked him square in the eye and in a voice devoid of emotion said, "If you ever hand me another weapon, I'll personally become your second worst nightmare."

Not much in the world scared Phil, but he was grateful they'd been alone for the exchange as he blanched and took a few minutes to get himself back together to face the team.

In the lab, Simmons started removing the straps securing Ward to his bed. He'd woken up during the chaos but had remained silent throughout the departure process. "What happened?" he asked his 'doctor' while staring pointedly at the restraints.

"We're not quite sure. It seems when one of the field team discharged his gun, it caused a reaction with the device inside of the tent. The initial readings are similar to when the wormhole from the Tesarac collapsed but on a bit smaller scale. The hole ended within feet of where the plane was sitting."

"How many survivors?" he wanted to know.

"The team made it as well as fourteen from the camp. They were literally hanging off the vehicles when they pulled up," she recounted.

As she made to move away, Ward reached out, grabbing her wrist. "Jemma, do you think I could sit up a little? Laying flat like this is making my back ache."

"Of course. We can't get you too high because of the drainage tube, but we can prop you up some. I can get a pillow for your knees as well. Why didn't you say something earlier," she gushed out.

"I was sleeping and kinda tied up," Ward stated sarcastically.

Jemma blushed feeling a little sheepish, "Oh, right. Let's see what we can do."

It took Simmons, Fitz and Bixby to get Ward situated and comfortable, reclining against strategically placed pillows. As they finished, Charlotte came into the room. She happily squealed at the sight of her dad sitting up, awake and alert.

Reaching his side, she silently asked if she could give him a hug by holding her arms towards him. Ward grinned at his daughter as he stretched out his I.V. free arm. Just as he was about to embrace the imp, the plane hit turbulence. Ward was thrown off his precarious perch. He would've hit the floor if Bixby and Fitz hadn't been standing as close as they were and caught him before it happened.

"That was a close one. Could've been worse," Fitz muttered, putting pressure on the spot where Ward's I.V. had pulled out.

Simmons was about to agree when Charlotte interrupted, "Daddy's lips are turning blue."

Jemma took in her patient's pallor. "Fitz, get the ventilator. We need to intubate again. A rib must've punctured the lung. The chest tube is draining blood again."

Charlotte watched unfazed as once again her daddy was placed on a breathing machine. She continued to stand sentinel as Simmons pulled out the portable x-ray to verify her diagnosis.

Sure enough, a rib had punctured his lung, but had moved back during the rush to get the man back on his bed. The tear was much bigger and on the opposite lung from the first tear, but since the original was still healing, it couldn't take the trauma of being the only working lung and collapsed. Jemma groaned in frustration. Ward was worse now then he'd been right after the initial accident. All three scientists studied the results of the x-ray and nodded in conjunction. There were no other options.

Upstairs, Marx and Coulson were busy updating HQ. They'd received clearance straight to the 'Fridge' but they didn't have enough fuel to make it that far. May was busy trying to negotiate a S.H.I.E.L.D. friendly landing site. Israel was their best bet.

"Sir, would you please come down here a.s.a.p?" Fitz half asked, half demanded through the comm. "And bring Aishani with you."

Coulson and the Oracle excused themselves to hurry down to the lab. Aishani first saw Charlotte standing next to Ward's bed holding his hand, then she saw all the life saving equipment had returned.

Coulson took one look at Ward and barked, "What happened?"

"It was the turbulence, Sir," Fitz/Simmons responded. "It knocked him off the table. He needs surgery to repair the damage."

"Why aren't you prepping him then?" Coulson asked taking in the uncomfortable stances of his two scientists.

"Sir, it's not a surgery I can do. I don't have the knowledge to repair a lung correctly," Simmons admitted.

Coulson didn't hesitate, "May, change of course. We're headed for Cairo, the closest hospital preferably. Radio ahead for an ambulance. Let them know we have a patient with lung trauma that requires immediate surgery."

They could already feel the plane turning before Coulson finished speaking.

"Roger that. ETA, forty minutes," May responded.

Coulson walked over to the injured man. "Life would be boring if it was easy," he said quietly, clasping a hand to Ward's shoulder. "Take it easy. We'll get you there."

Without addressing the others, Coulson left the room.

When he got to the lounge, he beckoned Marx with a slight arm movement and the two men headed for the cockpit. When the got there, Phil quickly updated the other two with the details of their situation. It was decided that they'd land in Cairo, have Simmons, the Oracle and Charlotte disembark with the patient, get the plane refueled and burn for the 'Fridge'. Coulson could tell May wanted to argue, but she held her tongue. Maybe they were just having sex and nothing more, he thought.

The Cairo office was surprisingly accommodating, despite their reputation. Everything was set to transport Ward and his entourage directly to a S.H.I. . supported hospital. With great efficiency, May had them back in the air.


	11. Chapter 11

The team assembled in the command center to review the op and listen to the conversations of their prisoners in the cage. The fourteen men they'd rescued had been made as comfortable as possible. Most of them were sitting on the floor but a couple paced in the confined space. Not a single one of them had said a word since they'd stepped on the plane. One of them had the audacity to cough and quickly found himself on the receiving end of pointed kick to the shin and a nasty glare from Salib.

The proclaimed leader of the group glared directly at the closed circuit camera and growled, "You could at least have the courtesy to provide us with some water to quench our thirst."

Coulson and Marx sent Dodger and May down with bottles of water for the captives along with some granola bars Ward had picked up that everyone else had declared inedible. The group in the holding room gave them no problems, taking the offered items with politeness.

Skye watched the monitors of the cage intently for three reasons. She was trying to keep her mind off of her S.O.'s predicament, to hide her worry and because she felt like they were missing something with this group. Something wasn't gelling but she couldn't put her finger on it. She watched as the door opened, the water and snacks handed over, the door closed, one of the men distributed the items. Nothing out of the ordinary. Wait, what's going on?

"Coulson, check this out," she requested. She split the video screens, keeping a live feed on one, but backing up the other feed to just before the water was distributed.

"What is it Skye?" Coulson asked. "You see something."

"Yeah, something's strange here," Sky answered. "Watch what happens after the door closes."

Coulson watched the footage. "I don't see anything."

"I don't either," Marx added.

"Precisely. Even after requesting a drink, all of those guys pocket the granola and then they take exactly one swallow of the water before they cap the bottles and put them on the floor," Skye pointed out.

"Roll it again," Coulson directed Fitz so they could study the segment again. "Okay, this is weird." He turned to May who'd just returned to the comm. table. "How far out are we?"

May consulted her tablet. "We're about two hours out. We've been given priority."

"Okay," Coulson stated, "I want someone monitoring the footage continuously. Marx, what do you think about having two guarding the cage?"

Marx considered the question carefully, "I think it would be prudent. You're some men short. I'll send Dodger and Gray. I think we need to review the footage from the second those guys set foot on this plane."

"Good idea," Coulson agreed. "Skye, review the tapes. Look for more anomalies." Hitting his com, he called down to the lab, "Fitz, you and Bixby go back over the readings from the site. See if anything pops out."

Everyone had their tasks and for the next hour, that's all they concentrated on. Fitz and Bixby went over and over the readings, finding nothing different than the initial diagnostics. Skye roped Gray into helping her. They took up seats in the lounge area, a laptop a piece, going over all the footage frame by frame. May returned to the cockpit, concentrating on manually flying the fully automated plane. Coulson, Dodger, and Marx continued to monitor the live feed from the cage while Dixon and Manetti were dispatched to guard the door to the cage.

An hour out from their destination, all hell broke loose. One by one, the men in the cage started screaming. The noise was inhuman. The three agents watching the monitors stared as the entire group collapsed to the floor.

"Fitz!" Coulson yelled. "What's the stats on the holding room?"

"Stats from the room are normal, Sir," Fitz said. "Wait, we're not getting any life sign readings. It appears they're all dead, Sir."

"Dixon, Manetti, open that door with caution. See what the hell is going on," Marx ordered.

"No, wait," Bixby cautioned. "It could be biochemical. Something we don't know about. Let us do another reading before we open that door."

Fitz and Bixby scrambled to reconfirm their data. All readings were normal, yet not a single prisoner was alive.

"Fitz and Bixby, meet us at the cage. We'll do a on hands verification," Coulson stated. "Dixon and Manetti wait for our arrival."

The seven men converged outside the holding room door. "We'll clear the room first then I want Fitz and Bixby to make physical verification of the deaths. You agree, Marx?" Coulson questioned.

"Sounds good," Marx confirmed. "Open the door."

"Wait, put these on," Fitz demanded, handing out face masks to everyone. "The room may be hermetically sealed, but we shouldn't take chances. Don't touch anything unless you have gloves on."

Fitz reached out to turn the knob when the unmistakable sound of the locks engaging broke the momentary silence. "What the hell." He immediately stretched for the keypad, but May's voice on the coms stopped him.

"Don't go in the cage. It's a trap," her monotone deliverance giving them more than cause for worry.

"Would you like to fill in the civilians, May," Coulson requested.

"The Oracle called. Those men aren't dead, merely incapacitated," May informed them.

"Well then. Let's leave them to their beauty sleep. They can deal with them at the 'Fridge'," Coulson said, getting head inclinations of agreement from the others.

"There's one more thing," May said hesitantly.

"This should be good. What could top fourteen men faking their death," Fitz joked.

"Ward's missing," came May's reply.

By this time the group had started making their way back to the comfort of the lounge. Coulson stopped abruptly, causing Marx and Dodger to almost run him over. "What do you mean Ward's missing?"

"I'll meet you in the commons with the whole story," May declared.

"This had better be some type of joke," the senior agent muttered as he led the way back to the commons.


	12. Chapter 12

The group arrived upstairs to find the rest of the team assembled. Skye had two laptops open, monitoring their prisoners. No change there, Coulson noted.

May was typing on her tablet, but quickly set it down when everyone was seated. "The Oracle made contact as you were handing out the masks. The men took some drug that can imitate death for up to three hours. All they needed was the water to activate it. From what she could tell it was coated on their teeth."

Phil contemplated the information. "Why didn't she contact us sooner? Cut it kinda close. We were seconds away from opening the door."

May sighed, "She apologized for that. She'd been distracted which was over riding the information."

"I've never known Aishani to get distracted. What happened?" Phil asked, hoping this would be easily dealt with.

"It seems Agent Ward was taken into surgery immediately, the doctor came out and told them the surgery went well and a nurse would come to get them when Ward was settled in a room. Charlotte kept saying 'Daddy's gone' but Simmons and Aishani assumed the child was talking about Ward dying and continued to reassure her that he was fine and they'd be able to see him in a little bit. When no one came to get them, Simmons questioned the staff. They couldn't find any information on Ward other than he was moved out of recovery. No room number or update. The building was put on lock down and S.H.E.I.L.D agents were brought in to search for him." May finished her discourse with another sigh.

"So, that's quite a pickle," Agent Marx said.

"We have a bunch of non dead, death faking, not really dead… I'm not sure what the exact terms should be. And we have have a missing agent. A bit coincidental don't you think," Skye said, heavy on the sarcasm.

"Coincidences take a lot of work," Coulson answered. "Any change in the status of our guests?" he asked, gesturing towards the monitors.

Agent Gray, who hadn't looked up from the screens during the entire briefing, snorted, "The guy in the far left corner has a twitchy leg. Seems our dead guys are about to be reanimated."

Skye pulled a laptop closer to her so she could study it closer. "Yep, they're starting to wake up. Salib is trying to hide his arm movements and not doing a very good job of it. It's almost like his got cooties."

"Let me see," Fitz demanded. Silently analyzing the video, Fitz chortled, "The chemical seems to be causing involuntary muscles spasms as it wears off."

The whole group moved to observe their captives. Someone mumbled, "That's gotta hurt." Skye reached over, turning up the sound and sure enough, the moans of pain were clearly audible. No one would admit to starting the chuckle that rippled through the group.

May was the first to break away. "Everyone prepare for landing. Wheels down in fifteen."

Skye and Fitz cornered Coulson, pulling out of ear shot of the others.

"What are we going to do to help find Ward? We're not gonna ignore the fact that he's missing are we?" Skye asked. Fitz stood beside her bobbing his head in time with her words.

Phil could read the concern on the faces of his people. He wished he could tell them that they'd be kicking their captives off and immediately heading back to Cairo, but he would never lie to them. "We need to deal with this situation first and trust Simmons and the Oracle to handle the situation until we can offer assistance." When it looked like they were about to argue, Phil held up a preventative hand. "We'll make this go as quickly as possible. I'm going to turn over the remainder of the op to Agent Marx and his team. We should be back in the air in under two hours. Now I need to update HQ."

May set them down and taxied into hanger in under thirty minutes. Coulson need not have bother with his update. The agents on the ground had been fully briefed already. He'd have to have a talk with May about that later. As for now, he wanted these mystery men off his bus post haste.

The cargo bay door opened to a large contingent of agents, some dressed in hazmat suits and the rest heavily armed. At the front of the group was Agent Victoria Hand.

"Agent Hand, this is a surprise," Coulson said.

"Agent Coulson, this incident of yours has been given a Level 4 priority and as I was in the area, Director Fury appointed me lead," the director of the HUB said.

"What's with the suits?" Phil asked pointing to the hazmats.

"We were told we are dealing with an unknown chemical agent. We're not taking any unnecessary risks," she responded. "Now, if you don't mind, we'd like to get this situation dealt with."

"By all means," Phil answered, waving with one hand towards the interior of the plane.

All the agents on the plane gathered to the side of the bay, leaning on or near the lab doors. They stood silently observing the removal of the prisoners, some of which needed to be carried out as their muscles still weren't cooperating.

When the last of the removal team exited the plane, Agent Marx turned to Coulson. "Well, Coulson, I'd like to say this has been fun, but I don't like lying to my fellow agents."

"Thanks, Marx," Coulson responded.

Marx and Dodger exchanged a look. "Look, we'd offer to help, but," the senior agent trailed off. Coulson clapped him on the shoulder, forestalling any more words.

"We've got this."

Marx and his team shook hands with the other agents and it was agreed they'd be happy to work together again if the need should arise. The second team grabbed their gear and departed efficiently.

Phil was about close the hatch and order May to get them in the air when two agents came running towards the plane. "Agent Coulson, we have an emergency communications for you. They say they'll only speak with you."

Coulson had a bad feeling and immediately ran for the command center shouting, "Patch it directly to the plane," over his shoulder as he went.

Skye, May and Fitz followed closely behind him as did Agent Hand who'd returned to the plane upon hearing of the communique. Phil didn't appreciate the intrusion, but refrained from commenting as he hit the necessary buttons on the com table to connect with his mystery caller.

"This is Agent Phil Coulson. Who am I speaking with?" he said, trying hard to be polite.

"Who I am is not important, Agent Coulson. What is important is the fact that we both have something the other wants," the disembodied male voice replied.

"What could I possibly have that you would want? I don't even know you," Coulson replied, already not liking this game.

"Negotiation requires no familiarity."

"What do you want?" Phil growled.

"Direct. Tired of our game already? I'm disappointed."

"Get to the point or I'm ending this," Coulson warned.

The soft laugh through the speakers brought goosebumps to even May's arms. "You will release my men," the voice said with certainty.

"What makes you think I'll be doing anything of the sort?" Coulson spat out.

"Because if you don't, you will never see Agent Ward again," the voice answered. "It would be a shame for that little girl of his to lose her daddy."

Before Coulson could respond, Agent Hand jumped into the conversation. "This is Agent Hand. As I'm sure you're aware, S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't deal with terrorists."

The voice on the line made a 'tut tut' noise. "Well, that is unfortunate. I am however, willing to give you some time to think about your stance. You have three hours to deliver my men to the following coordinates."

"If we don't comply?" Hand asked.

"Then your agent, his daughter and the women are all dead." With that the connection ended.

Hand glared at Coulson. "What women?"

"He's referring to Agent Simmons and the Oracle," Phil replied.

The response clearly startled Agent Hand. "You'd better get under way then."

"May, wheels up in five," Coulson ordered.

"Wait! We don't have this guy's men," Skye said, stating the obvious.

"Of course not. S.H.I. . is not going to hand over dangerous prisoners to some nut case on the phone," Agent Hand stated.

"What if this guy is the Clairvoyant? He'll know we aren't complying. We'll have no leverage to get Ward back," Skye reasoned.

"If the Clairvoyant is real, then the Oracle will handle it," Hand said.

"I'm missing something," Skye said, shaking her head in confusion. "Just exactly how will the Oracle 'handle it'?"

"She'll send out misleading information," Coulson answered. "Now, enough chatter. Let's get moving."


	13. Chapter 13

Ward slowly brought all of his senses online. He started with touch. The room was cool and there was the faint movement of air, giving hint to air conditioning. The blanket covering him was rough and did little to warm him. He wasn't restrained and there wasn't a spot on his body that didn't ache. Taste. He was certain someone had stuffed his mouth with camel dung and stale crackers. He hummed gratefully when an ice chip slid between his lips. Sound. From the breaths, only two people occupied the room, him and the person with the wonderful ice. Smell. Antiseptic and a faint lingering of gun oil when this companion got close. Sight. His eyes seemed glued shut. He kept trying to pry them open and was finally rewarded with a blurry vision of a bulky shadow a few feet away. He kept blinking till the shadow morphed into a person and the edges solidified.

"How are you feeling?" The question may have come from the person or from the air around him. Ward wasn't sure.

"I've been worse," he tried to say. It came out less distinct that he'd have liked.

"Take it easy. There's no rush. You do know there were easier ways to contact me," the voice said.

Ward grunted, losing the battle to stay awake.

The second time Grant managed to get his eyes to cooperate, he was warmer but still in the same room with the same person This time he was sure he'd be coherent. "Charlotte."

"She's safe. She's with her guard dog."

"Good."

"You going to stay awake for longer than three seconds?"

"Umno."

"That was almost two words. We need to work on your communications skills, Ward. go back to sleep."

Okay, third times the charm. Warmer now, almost hot. Antiseptic, gun oil and spearmint gum. Liquid gold masquerading as ice chips. Not so much territory in pain but an overall malaise has taken hold. Shit, hospital, infection. "What happened?"

"If I tell you, do you promise to remember this time?"

"No promises."

"Fair enough. You ran into some complications during your last mission. You accomplished it but you were injured."

"Where's Charlotte?"

"She's here in the hospital. You've got a lot of people looking for you, kid, and expect more soon."

"Why am I here?" Grant asked, battling confusion.

"I need to make sure your true mission was complete."

"Went like clock work," Grant answered, remembering. He was starting to lag again.

"Rest again. Next time you open your eyes, you'll be back with Coulson and the team." The figure pushed a button on the I.V. drip line.

May pushed the plane to its limits. They made it to Cairo in record time. A car met them at the airstrip. Coulson authorized lights and speed to get them to the hospital. They were greeted at the entrance by a S.H.I.E.L.D. contingent led by John Garrett.

"Garrett, didn't expect to see you," Coulson said.

"Got word Ward had been taken, we were in town, so here we are," Garrett responded. "Thought you could use the extra eyes."

"We appreciate the help. The first thing I need to do is find Simmons, Aishanni and the child," Coulson said.

"Well, follow me then. They're secure in a room upstairs while we continue to search the building and surrounding areas," Garrett informed him as they walked to the elevators.

They managed to cram eight people into the car. The normally chatty group, quiet. They shifted their weight and gave each other side glances. Thankfully the ride was short. Garrett led them down a short hallway to what was normally the ICCU waiting room.

Charlotte instantly ran to Coulson, demanding to be picked up. She snuggled close to his neck for a minute then pulled back to place her small hand on his cheek. "You're here to find my daddy," she stated firmly.

"I'm going to do my best," Coulson confirmed.

"You'll find him," she stated again wiggling out of his arms to run to Jemma.

"What's been done so far?" Coulson asked.

"The hospital was locked down the minute it was discovered Ward was missing. The local LEO's and onsite security made a cursory sweep, but they felt it was best to wait for actual agents," Aishanni informed them.

"Okay. Garrett if you and your team are willing to help, let's divide up and cover every floor. There's ten floors and two subbasements so each team has three floors," Coulson suggested.

"Sounds like a plan. One of yours with one of mine okay for split?" Garrett replied.

"Good. Jemma, you and Tripp start on the top floor and work your way down. May, you take five through seven meeting up with Jemma. I'll start at the subbasement. Garrett, you and Skye take the fourth down and meet up with me. Fitz, I want you tracking everyone and be the central line of communications if for some reason the comms fail. All right! Everyone got their assignments? Let's go find Ward," Coulson ordered.

The building was laid out such that the top two floors were administrative offices, the subbasements held the mechanical rooms, labs and the morgue. The main floor was admissions, emergency, some offices, cafeterias and chapel. The second floor was dedicated to labor and delivery and the NICU. The remaining floors were surgery and patient rooms. For safety, all teams would check in before and after each floor. Not a word was spoken as they exited in pairs.

Aishanni pulled Coulson aside before he could make it to the door. "Phil, you need to know that the body count in this building didn't change until the four of you arrived."

Phil stared at her for a moment, processing the information. "Duly noted."

Coulson contemplated the Oracle's declaration all the way to their first assigned area. Luckily his partner wasn't the talkative type. He checked in with Fitz and they started their search. He didn't hold much hope for the mechanical rooms but they were going to cover every inch of this building.

Even though the staff had been put on alert, each team ran into some complications which slowed everyone down. Coulson and his partner had to don clean suites to get into certain labs and of course they couldn't use the same suits twice. May, her partner, Garrett and Skye faced phalanxes of uptight nurses and doctors who tried to refuse access to certain rooms. Jemma and Tripp ran into so many locked offices on their first floor alone, they quite asking for keys and Tripp just picked the locks. After an hour they'd only cleared four and a half floors with still no sign of their missing agent.

Half way through their second floor, Jemma held up her hand to stop Tripp. "Listen! Do you hear that?"

Tripp concentrated on his surroundings. "It's a rhythmic beating."

"It's a hear monitor," Jemma stated. "It's coming from down this hallway."

"Now why would there be a running heart monitor in the office section?" Tripp ruminated as he moved down the hall trying to discern which room the sound was coming from.

"I think it's this one," Jemma said from in front of a door near the end of the hall.

"I think the three locks would be a clue," Tripp said, joining her. "Inform the other's while I work these."

She moved down the hall to give him some room and hit the comms. "Agent Coulson, we might have found Agent Ward. We have what sounds like a monitor behind a triple locked door. Tripp is attempting to open the door now."

"Roger that. Everyone else keep going just incase. Simmons, let us know the minute that door is open," Coulson responded.

"Yes, Sir," she confirmed. "How's it coming?" she asked her partner.

"I've got one. These are not your average locks, it's taking longer," Tripp responded.

"Do you want me to see if someone on the floor has a key?"

"Nah. I'll have it before you can. Ah, here's the second one."

"Tripp…."

"I know, Jemma. I know."

"Update, Simmons" Coulson's voice demanded.

"I'm working on the third lock now," Tripp answered for her. "Got it. Sir, we've found Agent Ward."

Jemma moved to Ward's side, checking his condition and the I.V. lines feeding into his arms. "They've got him heavily sedated and on antibiotics."

"Garrett, meet me on the ninth floor. Everyone else go back to the waiting room," Coulson ordered. "Simmons, does he need medical assistance?"

"I don't believe so, but I'd need more equipment t make a complete diagnosis."

"Fitz, get her a room and the equipment she needs. No one gets in the room but our people," Coulson directed.

"On it, Sir," Fitz repllied.


	14. Chapter 14

Tripp stood guard while Jemma did what she could do from an office for the unconscious Ward. She dialed down the I.V. feeding him the sedative, checked the readings from the monitors and started to look at his wounds. Phil and Garrett arrived before she could get the bandages off.

"Fitz has a room. Can we get him moved?" Garrett asked.

"Everything is contained. He's ambulatory," Simmons confirmed.

"Let's get him outta here and checked out," Garrett said.

Tripp and Garrett maneuvered Wards' bed while Simmons monitored his condition and Coulson cleared their path. The hospital staff now went out of their way to be accommodating (considering they'd lost a patient). Every request Simmons made was quickly fulfilled.

While Ward was being attended to, Phil met with the rest of his team. "Skye, I want you to go through the hospital's security feed. We should have started sooner. That's on me. Find out how Ward ended up in that office."

"I'm all over it," Skye said.

Phil felt a tug on his pant leg. Looking down, he knew what to expect. "We found him, Miss Charlotte."

Charlotte wagged her finger in a motion that indicated she wanted him to bend down. when he did as beckoned, he received a kiss to the cheek and a whispered, "Thank you." "You're quite welcome," he whispered back.

It was an act of patience for everyone while they waited for an update on Ward and for Skye to find something. Garrett's team just as curious as Coulson's. Skye came through first.

"Hey, A.C., you need to see this," Skye called to them. As they assembled around her, she started her presentation. "Watch. Ward goes into surgery, I'll fast forward, he comes out, they move him to recovery, everything is good. Here two orderlies come, I'm guessing to take him to a room. They take him into the elevator and…" she cuts off.

"And what?" May asks.

"And that's it. He never comes out of the elevator," Sky finished.

"What do you mean he never comes out?" Coulson questions.

"I mean the elevator goes two floors up, the orderlies come out, no Ward," Skye says.

"Are there any cameras on the floor where we found him?" Garrett asks.

"No. Cameras don't cover the office floors," she answers.

"What about the two guys?" Phil queries.

"I'll pull up their bios now." The info popped up and all who could see the screen read at the same time. The two men were long term employees with average progress reports.

"Garrett, will you and your team track these two down? Find out what the hell happened in that elevator?" Phil asked his friend.

"We're on it. I'll leave Tripp to help guard Ward since he's still in there with Simmons. Come on ladies, you heard the man. We're gonna go get us some bad guys," Garrett said in answer. "We'll keep you updated," he says to Coulson.

"So will we," Coulson replies.

It seems like an eternity before Simmons joins them. Charlotte launches herself into the scientist's arms. Simmons picks her up and cuddles the child for a moment before addressing the group. "He's going to be fine. The surgery was performed to spec. He has enough sedative in him to keep him out for the next twenty-four hours or so."

"Is it safe to move him? I want him where our people are in control," Phil voiced his concern.

"If we can use a proper ambulance, then there will be little risk," Simmons said. "The bus is equipped with everything I'll need for his continued care." Sinking down into a chair, she allowed herself the luxury of taking comfort from the little girl she still held.

"May, go make arrangements," Coulson ordered. May nodded and left the room.

"Come on, little one, your daddy's sleeping but I think he could use a hug," Jemma said, getting up and carrying the child to her father.

Skye wanted to follow but the Oracle's hand on her arm kept her from doing so. She went back to studying the video feed. There had to be something on there, something she missed. She pulled all the footage to her laptop so she could keep watching after they got back to the bus.

May soon returned and the team made their way to the waiting vehicles. Tripp drove the ambulance with Ward, Simmons and Coulson in the back. May drove the SUV with the others, staying as close as she dared to the other vehicle. they made it back to the plane without incident. Tripp waited until Ward was settled before biding the group goodbye and taking the ambulance back to its owners. May wasted no time in getting them wheels up and out of Cairo.

they'd bee in the air for a while when they received a message from Garrett. the two men that had excorted Ward out of recover were dead. Both were found in their homes, shot execution style.

"Damn it!" Coulson exclaimed.

"Maybe Ward will be able to help when he wakes up," Skye offered, pausing her study of the video.

"Not likely," Fitz said. "Simmons said he's been drugged for a while. She's not even sure he's been awake at all since post-op."

"Damn it!" Coulson repeated.

May had arranged for a med pod so Ward wouldn't need to be strapped to a lab table. Jemma quietly checked his vitals for the dozenth time. Aishanni sat in the corner with a slumbering Charlotte on her lap. The little girl had succumbed to exhaustion shortly after take off.

"He's resting comfortably, but I'll feel better when it's a natural sleep," Simmons said.

"Jemma, sit down. You've been at this for hours. You need to take a breather," Aishanni said.

The younger woman sighed, "I don't suppose it would hurt to take a small break."

"I'm going to put Charlotte down and then you and I are going to settle into those nice comfy couches with plates of food. We can keep tabs on him through the monitors," the Oracle informed her.

"Aishanni, may I ask you something?" Jemma asked.

"Of course."

Checking to make sure the child was still asleep, she looked the older woman in the eye. "She's not really his, is she?"

The Oracle studied her for a long moment. "Probably not. Now how about we get that food?"


	15. Chapter 15

Except for May, the rest of the team sat around the common area. Skye was still going over the video. Fitz was fiddling with some gadget. Coulson was reading his way through some online reports. Aishanni settled her charge and then joined Jemma in the galley. The pair made sandwiches for everyone. They ate on autopilot.

"Sir, where are we headed?" Simmons asked, breaking the silence.

"We're taking the Oracle and Charlotte home," Coulson replied.

"So New York then, " Fitz stated.

"No, French Polynesia," Coulson corrected.

That statement got everyone's attention. "I heard you say you stayed at a hotel after the Battle of New York," Skye declared, staring at the Oracle.

"We did. We were in a S.H.I.E.L.D. safe house while I was working. Our real home is Puna'auia," Aishanni corrected.

"Wow!" Skye managed.

"We'll refuel in Australia since the bus can't quite make it that far," Coulson informed them.

"With refueling, it'll take twenty-three or so hours," May declared as she grabbed a sandwich and joined them.

"Why French Polynesia?" Skye asked.

"It meets our needs," the Oracle stated simply.

"Have we received any more intel on Chad?" Skye asked.

"I'm just getting the reports now. Teams on the ground have recovered pieces of the device. It's from the same technology as the Tesarac. Most of it was destroyed with the implosion and the area is highly unstable. It may be a while before they can do a full recovery," Coulson told them.

"What about the men we dropped off at the Fridge?" May inquired.

"Most of them aren't' talking. What little they've divulged indicates they were puppets and forced to work under threats."

"Didn't any of the information we sent help?" Fitz asked disgruntled.

"It might if they can recover more. Until then, they have nothing to match it to," Coulson said.

"What I want to know is what all this has to do with the clairvoyant?" Skye exclaimed. At the incredulous looks she received, she continued, "We didn't release the men, he let us find Ward. What's his game? Ward was a hostage right? and he was way to easy to find."

"Where are you going with this?" May asked.

"I think the clairvoyant thought Ward had information he didn't or Ward's kidnapping was a distraction," the hacker said.

"If the first part was true, the clairvoyant wouldn't be a clairvoyant," Aishanni said.

"So it has to be the latter," Simmons stated.

"Then the next question would be, a distraction from what," Coulson said. "Skye, anything from that video yet?"

"Nothing. There's no glitches, time stamp differences, no fingerprints that someone has hacked it," she replied.

"We've go to be missing something. Skye, start going through all the video from an hour before Ward gets there. Fitz, help her out," Phil ordered.

"I don't have that video," Skye started but caught Coulson's expression and changed track, "I'll get it a.s.a.p. Fitz, we'll use the monitors in the command center. Better viewing than my laptop."

"I'm going back down to check on Ward," Jemma stated.

"I'll join you if you don't mind," Aishanni half asked.

"I'd like the company," Simmons answered.

After the others left, Phil turned to May. "This smells like a set up and I don't like it."

"What are we going to do about it?" May asked.

"I don't know. We have nothing to go on. There's conveniently no evidence and our possible witnesses to Ward's abduction are dead. Aishanni told me there was no change in body count until we arrived. Garrett and his team were already at the hospital. There's too many coincidences."

"And you don't like being played."

"And I don't like being played," Coulson confirmed.

"Maybe Ward wil have more," May hypothesized.

"Maybe, but I doubt it. I'm going to check in with Hand," Coulson stated making to leave.

"We'll get answers, Phil. We always do," May stated.

"I have a feeling that we're not going to like the answers," he replied.

Hand was waiting for Coulson's call. "Agent Coulson, we have a situation here."

"What do you mean a situation?" Coulson asked.

"The men you brought in are dying, one by one." Watching his face through the video feed, she continued, "You don't look surprised."

"I'm not. Every time the clairvoyant is involved, we get the unexpected. After Garrett finding the orderlies dead, I knew the same would happen with those men. The guy doesn't leave loose ends. What's the cause of death?"

"It would seem that whatever made them appear dead for you eventually kills them," Hand responded.

"Did you get anything from them?"

"They said they were recruited for satellite research. Each worker seemed to be compartmentalized. They didn't share," Hand replied.

"So, we got nothing."

"Essentially," she confirmed. "Let us know immediately if you get new information from Ward."

"Definitely," Coulson confirmed.

Each team member stayed occupied with their individual task until they landed for refueling. They gathered in the commons to update each other. Simmons went first, letting them know Ward was showing signs of waking and should soon be cognizant. Skye and Fitz admitted they'd found nothing on the tapes. They'd went as far back as the day before to cover their bases. There was nothing unusual. Phil shared the information from Hand. The silence that followed each pronouncement got longer each time.

Charlotte's reappearance was a welcome distraction. The little girl climbed into Simmons lap, rubbing her sleepy eyes. "Is my daddy doing better?"

"Yes, little one, he's starting to wake up," Simmons replied.

"Daddy doesn't like long naps. He's going to be grumpy," the child stated with conviction.

The laughter that followed her declaration helped defuse the tension even more. "Why don't we go see if he'll wake up enough to talk to you," Simmons offered.

Charlotte was up immediately, tugging on Simmons to get her to hurry up. "Can I give him a hug? I want to tell..." Her prattle faded out as the pair disappeared into the lower levels of the plane.

Simmons helped Charlotte settle on the bed next to her father. "I need to check your dad to see how he's doing. Why don't you talk to him. See if you can wake him up."

"Okay," the little girl responded eagerly. "Hi, Daddy, Aunt Aishanni says we're going home. I can't wait to see Patches again. Do you think he missed me? I missed you when you were hiding. You're really good at hide an' seek. Will you teach me? Daddy, can we go see Mommy when we get home?"

"We can," Ward croaked, managing only to catch the last question.

Jemma, who'd been busy looking over the readings from the machines, jumped at the rumbly voice. "You're awake. Let me get you some ice chips. Your throat must be sore."

"Thanks," Ward whispered as the cool liquid hit his throat.

"How are you feeling?" the scientist asked.

"Like a plane landed on my chest. I'm a bit groggy too."

"You've had major surgery so I wouldn't expect any less . How's the pain level? Do you need any medication?"

Ward tried to shift so he could hold Charlotte, but he didn't make it. Grimacing at the shooting pain going through his chest, he admitted, "I guess I could use a little."

As Simmons prepared the syringe, Charlotte studied their patient. "You've been asleep for a long time," she accused.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," he apologized. "Did I miss anything?"

"They mad me take a nap," she replied as if it was the worse event in her entire life.

"I'm sure you needed it," Ward said warmly, trying had not to laugh at her horrified expression.

"Okay. I'm going to put this in your I.V. It's going to make you sleepy again, but right now that's the best thing for you," Simmons stated, interrupting their conversation. "Even daddies need naps."

The pair fussed over Ward until he fell asleep again and waited until they were back in the air before rejoining the others. The rest of the trip was completed without any major mishaps. Ward woke briefly several times but not long enough to answer questions. The entire team took turns sitting with him so he wouldn't be alone and they gave up trying to make Charlotte leave after she returned immediately after escorting Jemma upstairs. Ward seemed to be comforted by her presence anyway.

They landed without fanfare, quickly changing transports. As the trip made their way to the inner edges of the Puna'auia commune, Skye couldn't help but gasp at the scenery.

"It's beautiful here," she said with awe.

"Yes it is," Aishanni confirmed. "It certainly has its charms."

"Why do you live here rather than in say New York?" Fitz asked

"It's where Charlotte is most comfortable." she replied.

Before anyone could pursue the topic, Phil stopped their van in front of a massive gate. Rather than telling him the code, Aishanni got out to go into the gate house. Coulson and May were the only ones not showing signs of dismay over the length of time the older woman was gone. The Oracle stepped out of the little house just as the gate parted. She waited till Coulson started pulling through the opening before she stepped inside again.

The gate closed behind them and Aishanni appeared next to the van. "I'll follow you with the cart," she said motioning for Coulson to proceed.

It was only a few minutes until they pulled up under the portico of an impressive looking bungalow. A small battalion of servants materialized to whisk "the master" to his room and to collect what little baggage the team had brought with them. A petite native woman informed them food was set out on the back patio for them after they'd freshened up. Three teenage boys entered the hall, each directing the team members by gentle touch, towards the bedroom wing.

"Hope you no mind sharing rooms as we had little time to prepare," the tiny lady announced in a big voice.

Coulson and Fitz were guided to a room on the left side, the first door. May and Skye were one door down. Simmons was led in the direction Ward had been taken. At her confused look, Aishanni stated, "We'd like you to be closer to Grant incase he needs anything, if that's okay with you."

"Of course. I'd like to keep an eye on him," Simmons assured.

Skye immediately went to the huge double French doors opposite of where they'd entered. Opening them, she found herself gazing at the beautiful garden filled with a cornucopia of native plants. She could just make out a covered patio to her right. Turning back to the room to inform May she'd found the food, she discovered it empty, the sounds of a shower emanating from the ensuite. Returning to the doors, she saw Fitz inspecting a potted plant sitting between the rooms.

"Simmons is going to love this place," he said. "She won't be able to resist studying the plant life."

"They're so beautiful. Hope Ward improves quickly so she can have some time," Skye responded.

"Speaking of Ward did you hear the staff call him master? What's the deal with that?" Fitz wondered.

"I don't know. Do you think this is the place he calls home?" Skye threw out.

"I dun know. Maybe. Sounds like Coulson's done. I should go take my turn," Fitz said.

"Yeah, sounds like May is done too."

A half hour later, the gang reassembled under the covered porch. The tables were laden with fruit and pastries, light food, which was appreciated as their internal time clocks were a little messed up. Simmons informed them Ward was resting peacefully. Coulson had more news.

"Agent Hand has an update. They managed to save two of the captives and get them to talk. The compound was a research site. They were trying to recreate the portal to contact the Chitari."

"Why would they want to do that?" Skye asked.

"Seems that after the Battle of New York, some unbalanced people decided that the Chitari were the answer to the earth's problems. A cleansing if you will. They gave up the name of their leader. S.H.I.E.L.D. is in the process of rounding up all their people," Coulson replied.

"Did the ground crews find evidence to support their claims?" Fitz asked.

"They have," he confirmed.

"So what's this got to do with the clairvoyant? What about Ward's abduction?" May enquired.

"I don't know," Coulson admitted.

"Ward's becoming more and more aware. I want to get him up and moving in the morning. He should be able to answer our questions by then," Simmons stated.

"Until then, why don't you all rest up and take advantage of the amenities," Aishanni said. "You'll find everything you need inside the estate but if you want to play tourist, that Marcel and he'll arrange for transportation and security. Do not leave the grounds without an escort. "


	16. Chapter 16

No one felt the need to explore the island so they found their amusements on the grounds. May went to the gym. Coulson headed for the library. Skye, Fitz and Simmons chose the pool because it wasn't too far away from Ward's room. With the full time nurse on watch, Simmons could relax.

The remainder of the day passed quickly. It helped that everyone retired early as the events of the last few days had left the exhausted. They awoke refreshed and hungry. Breakfast was served on the patio, buffet style.

"We keep eating like this, I'm going to have to up Ward's physical conditioning routine ," Skye joked.

"It's not often we have visitors so Marie loves to go all out when we do," Aishanni said.

"Well, give her our thanks. She's given us a variety," Coulson said.

"You can tell her yourself. She also loves company in the kitchen. She mentioned she'd like suggestions for dinner so you'd be helping her out."

Just then, the nurse came out. "Mister Ward is awake and asking for Mister Coulson and Miss May." As Simmons rose to join them, the nurse stopped her. "He was specific. Only Mister Coulson and Miss May."

After the two agents departed, Fitz spoke for the first time that morning. " Does the staff not know who you are? Who we are?" looking to the Oracle for answers.

"No, they don't. As far as they know, Ward owns the property and I am Charlotte's nanny because he is away on business a lot," she responded.

"Wow, that's so... Well I don't know. I guess it makes sense though," Fitz babbled.

In the master suite, Ward was ensconced in a large bed with an over abundance of medical equipment surrounding it. He looked better than he'd had for days.

"How are you feeling?" Coulson asked.

"Not too bad, Sir," the invalid answered.

"Feel up to answering some questions?"

"Yes, Sir, but if you would allow me, I'd like to tell you about my abduction while I'm still awake."

"By all means."

"I was a delay tactic, Sir. Or at least I was suppose to be. They expected you to turn around rather than continue on to detainment when you found out I'd been taken," Ward said.

"A delay tactic for what?" May asked.

"So the poison those men took would work. They wanted to make sure they all died," Ward answered.

"They told you this?" Coulson questioned skeptically.

"No. They didn't know I was coherent. They thought I had enough drugs in me I wouldn't even know they were there."

"Can you describe them?" Coulson pushed.

"No, sorry, Sir. The room was dark and my vision was blurry. I'm pretty sure there were three guys."

"They say anything else?" Coulson asked, noticing the man was in the bed tiring.

"They spoke about a cleansing," Ward answered punctuating with a huge yawn.

"Get some sleep, "may ordered quietly.

The two left the room to slip into the library for some privacy. "Ward confirmed our suspicions," May said.

"He did. Nice that they underestimated us," Coulson said. "Things are adding up just a little too nicely. "

"I agree. How long are that we staying here?" May asked

"Long enough for Ward to get back on his feet even if it's a few steps at first. Get Skye to set up some searches to see if we can find out more about this group and, May, let's keep this between the three of us."

"Understood, Sir."

True to her word, Simmons had Ward up and sitting in a chair by that afternoon. Skye and May spent the day in the library. Coulson communicated with S.H.I.E.L.D. higher-ups. That left Fitz the odd man out. He decided to spend it poolside with Aishanni.

"So, what's really the reason you live out here in the middle of the ocean," Fitz blurted out.

Aishanni considered him with an appraising eye. "You're very astute. This geographic area has properties to keep my abilities in check."

"You mean so S.H.I.E.L.D. can control them," Fitz stated.

"Again, you are very astute."

"You're not an agent and you're not on the index. How is that possible?"

"I'm listed as an asset. I predate the index," she answered.

"How's that possible? The index goes back years," Fitz asked, confused.

"Let's just say I'm older than I look," Aishanni answered.

"How did you become tied to Ward?" Fitz asked hoping he wasn't pressing his luck.

"I'm distantly related to Charlotte's mother and I'm directly responsible for the woman's demise," she replied honestly. "Now that you have some answers how about a question. When are you going to tell Jemma how you feel? Aishanni pushed back.

Fitz sputtered, "Simmons is a colleague."

"Yes, she is."

"We've known each other since the Academy."

"Again, true, but neither of those statements answers the question," the Oracle observed.

"The time isn't right," Fitz admitted quietly.

The Oracle studied the man for a moment before she spoke again. "An unsolicited word of advice, young Leo. Human life is too short to put off going after what makes you happy. Now if you"ll excuse me, I need to find my charge and make sure she's staying out of trouble."

Fitz followed the woman's departure as he mulled over their conversation. He wanted to tell Simmons about it but he was pretty sure that the Oracle would end up in Ward's room in her search for the little girl. Telling Simmons would have to wait

Charlotte was exactly where Fitz had anticipated. The child spent ninety percent of her day with or near her father. She helped when she was allowed and stayed out of the way when asked, showing more maturity than the team expected. When Aishanni found her, she was pushing Grant through his breathing exercises.

"Daddy, keep going. These will make your lungs strong," Charlotte encouraged.

"What happened to my sweet little baby? She's been replaced by a drill sergeant," Ward panted.

Charlotte gave him _the look;_ the one the female species starts perfecting from conception, the look that says, "You're an idiot, but I love you anyway," and shoves the flow pique meter back into his hands.

Aishanni watches with amusement until Ward finishes his exercises before she interrupts, "Charlotte, why don't you show Jemma your book collection?"

Simmons takes the hint. "Oh, I'd love to see your books. Reading is a wonderful treat."

Aishanni waits until the pair are out of hearing. "Charlotte wants to see her mother before you go. Are you going to be up to it tomorrow morning?"

Ward grunts, "Why tomorrow? We've got plenty of time."

"You don't. You'll be out of here the day after. Things are moving quickly and all players need to be in their places."

"Simmons won't release me for active-duty that fast."

"No, but on your convalescence, you can do other things. We have weeks before Phase One is done. You'll be healed in time for Phase Two. Oh, as a side note, Simmons asked if you're truly Charlotte's father."

Ward looked surprised. "What did you say?"

"I said probably not."

"Still playing your games, huh," Ward chuckled.

"You know me too well. Now rest up. You'll need it, "she replied.


	17. Chapter 17

By supper the team that accomplished very few things. Skye and May passed on what little information they found to Coulson and he relayed it to Agent Hand. Fitz pulled Simmons out to the garden and help her study the variety of plants while Ward rested under the eagle eye of the nurse. Charlotte kept busy altering between her father's room and the swimming pool under the eagle eye of Aishanni. Ward was doing well enough that Simmons allow him to sit outside for the evening meal. They ate and made small talk until their invalid started to wane. It was decided everyone would retire early.

Morning dawned clear and beautiful, promising him an amazing day in Tahiti. The irony of it was not lost on Coulson. He wanted to go outside of the estate to see if the sites might spark the memories. He made the arrangements with Marcel and asked May to accompany him. She reluctantly agreed. They left promising to return before sundown.

Against Simmon strong opposition, Ward declared he was taking Charlotte to see her mother. Greatly curious as to why the woman was talked about the way she was, Skye and Jemma boldly asked to tag along; they included Fitz as well.

Charlotte was ecstatic because after all, "Mommy loves visitors."

The group piled into two golf carts, Aishanni and Marcel driving. Twenty minutes down the paved pathway, they stopped beside a small gated cemetery. In the middle, the moderate crypt. Ward excepted Marcel and Fitz's help to follow Charlotte who was skipping joyfully towards the building. After they've assembled at the door, Aishanni punched in the key code.

The door opened automatically and a warm female voice greeted them. "Hello, my precious baby."

"Hello, Mommy," Charlotte answered stepping over the threshold.

"How's my daughter today?"

"I'm wonderful. How are you?"

"I'm resting peacefully. Remember, Mommy loves you."

"I love you," the little girl replied.

The whole exchange took the three newbies by surprise. All they could see in the room was a simple silver casket. Fitz caught on first. "It's a pre-recorded voice that is voice activated," he whispered to the other two. Ward's glare prevented further hypothesizing.

Taking in the whole room, the three agents were again surprised. The walls were covered with photographs, a young woman featured in many. Several also showed a baby whom they assumed was Charlotte. A picture, hung directly at the head of the casket, showed what appeared to be a happy family; Ward, toddler Charlotte and the woman from the other pictures.

"Everyone, this is my mommy. She's not really here cause she's in heaven but we like to pretend sometimes don't we, Daddy," Charlotte announced.

"Yes, sweetheart, sometimes we pretend," Ward confirmed in a soft voice.

Charlotte moved around the room, occasionally stopping and telling a little story about what was going on in a particular picture. It was obvious she didn't truly remember the events, but was citing the stories she'd been told as she looked to her father once in a while to fill in the gaps.

All too soon Ward started to get tired. "Charlotte, we need to go. I need a nap."

The child didn't argue. She grabbed Aishanni's hand as Fitz and Marcel helped Ward back to the carts. Before the door closed, she stopped and said, "Goodbye, Mommy."

"Goodbye, my heart," the warm voice whispered.

The group barely made it back before Ward fell asleep on them. He was quickly returned to his bed and with Charlotte by his side, the two settled in for a nap. The alert team members made their was back to the covered patio.

"What happened to Charlotte's mother?" Skye asked.

"You'll have to ask Grant," the Oracle said.

"So, in other words, we'll never know," Skye retorted. The Oracle shrugged.

"Wonder what Coulson and May are doing?" Simmons pondered.

"Knowing those two, they're probably finding some petty crooks to take down," Skye snarked. Fitz snorted.

Coulson was getting frustrated. Their "bodyguard" was thwarting his attempts to get to some of the places from his memories. Every time he'd get ready to deck the guy, May would pull him back. After three hours of nothing, Coulson made the decision to head back to the estate. Once they ditched their escort at the gate, he pulled May aside.

"So what's your take on this?" he asked her.

"I think he's under orders," May responded.

"Yeah, but whose?" Phil said. "We keep getting more questions and not enough answers."

"We'll keep digging, Phil. We'll find something."

"I'm not giving up," Phil declared.

At that moment, Marcel called to them from the gate house intercom. "Mr. Coulson, there's a communication for you at the house."

Phil went into the small building to reply. "I'll be right up."

The two agents took the waiting cart back to the main house. Phil went immediately to the library. May headed for the gym. It was late afternoon before the group was together again.

Coulson wasted no time in telling the team his news. "We've got another assignment. We leave in the morning."

"What about Ward?" Skye demanded.

"Simmons," Coulson deflected.

"He should be fine to travel as long as he isn't on active duty. That he won't be ready for, for at least three weeks, more likely four," the scientist answered.

"So, I'm losing my houseguests so quickly. Everyone make lists of what you need or want and we'll make sure it's ready for you," Aishanni informed them. "Your transport has already been fully restocked with all the necessities as well as beefing up the medical supplies." With that, she stood and left to give the team some privacy.

"Before anyone asks, we're not discussing the new assignment here. It's not secure. I'll brief everyone once we're on the bus. Now get your lists together quickly as it's getting late," Coulson ordered.

Lists were were written and given to Marcel. The procured items were delivered directly to the plane unless otherwise specified. Ward was able to join them for the evening meal. It was a light hearted affair, kept that way by Aishanni telling amusing anecdotes about the times she was learning to control her gift.

Charlotte stayed close to her father. To the team's surprise, she showed no anxiety over his pending departure. She did make sure everyone had a custom piece of artwork, lovingly created by her, to take with them.

Morning arrived quicker than some wanted. The trip back to the bus made easier by the fact that Ward was able to sit in a seat. After all the gear was stowed, everyone gathered on the cargo deck to say goodbye. Charlotte hugged each one of them with abandonment, saving her daddy for last. If a few quiet words and extra snuggles were exchanged, no one said anything.

The Oracle and Charlotte waited in the shade of the hanger as the large aircraft made a vertical take off.

"They're not going to know what hit them," the child said.

"No, they're not," the Oracle confirmed.


End file.
